Aftermath
by rodimus2011
Summary: Bridges the gap between Seasons 7 and 8. Sequel to my other story Changes. Must read Changes first to understand Aftermath. Summary: House has left Princeton after crashing his car through Cuddy's house. How will his actions affect the rest of the team. Can there be a department of diagnostics without House?
1. Aftermath Part 1

Disclaimer: House and all respective characters do not belong to me. I am only borrowing them for personal enjoyment.

Also I am not a doctor so I have decided to borrow cases used earlier in the show for medical accuracy. My creativity comes in with building and developing character relationships as well as introducing original characters. Criticism and reviews are most welcome. Hope you enjoy

**A/N: Here is the sequel to Changes. When last we left everyone at PPTH, House had crashed his car through Cuddy's house. An action that will send shock waves through the entire team. How will everyone pick up the pieces of the work that House smashed? My intention is to tie everything in with where Season 8 starts, with minimal changes to David Shore's continuity. Enjoy, and as always please read and review.**

* * *

Steve and his friend Jake are jogging in the park

"So now the plan is either find ourselves a new counselor, stick it out with the old one but go more often, or resign ourselves to the fact that she's never gonna be happy no matter what I do, so let's just take the money we're wasting and put it towards a membership at Lakeview, you know," Jake says.

"I'm guessing the last option has yet to be formally presented," Steve says.

"Yeah…Jeez what's with you," Jake asks. "It usually takes about half speed to stay with me."

"I didn't get a lot of sleep last night," Steve says.

"How are things with Brittany," Jake asks.

"Great," Steve says.

"Great," Jake asks.

"Yeah," Steve replies.

"Simple answers," Jake says. "You're either out of breath or you're lying to me."

"Yeah…we have our moments, but they usually work out," Steve says. "Can I get some water?"

"Yeah…" Jake says handing Steve a water bottle he was carrying. "How do you work things out?"

"Talk, someone apologizes," Steve says. "Man I shouldn't have drank last night."

"You mean you apologize," Jake says.

"Yeah, I guess," Steve replies between gulps of water.

"How often do you guys have sex," Jake asks.

"Enough…" Steve answers.

"You do it this morning," Jake asks. Steve smirks and shakes his head. "You did, you did it this morning, maybe that's why you can't stand up. Come on!"

They finish their run and then part ways. Steve runs past Jake's house and continues all the way to his house. Steve enters his house and walks into the kitchen. "Brittany! Honey, I'm dehydrated." He opens fridge. "We have anything with electrolytes? He walks upstairs to the bedroom. "Sleeping beauty, wake up, this is an emergency. The fridge is empty. Come on, it's almost four! Brittany, sweetie…"

"Call Jacques, tell him I'm not feeling well," Brittany says.

"It's Saturday," Steve says. "You haven't been to work in three days, remember?"

"Just let me sleep," Brittany says.

"Come on. You haven't been out of bed since Wednesday," Steve complains.

"Leave me alone…" Brittany says sleepily.

"Come on, let's go," Steve says lying down on the bed and shaking her slightly.

"No, leave me alone," Brittany whines.

"Honey…" Steve starts shaking Brittany harder.

Brittany turns around and smacks Steve hard. "I SAID LEVE ME ALONE!" She suddenly comes back to herself, wearing a horrified look on her face. "I think there's something wrong with me."

At the hospital, the team is gathered in the Diagnostics Office except for Trzaska and House. Foreman is sitting at the end of the table working on discharge summaries, Thirteen is doing a crossword puzzle, Taub is pouring a cup of coffee, and Chase is surfing the internet on the computer. The door to the office opens and Trzaska limps in with a solemn look on his face. He hangs up his leather jacket.

Foreman looks at his watch and then at Trzaska. "It's almost noon, heard anything from House," Foreman asks Trzaska.

The other team members turn their attention to Trzaska, hoping he knows something about House's whereabouts and therefore a possible case. Trzaska chews on the side of his lip and shakes his head. He pulls out the chair in front of him at the other end of the table and sits down. His head is down and he silently bounces his cane off the floor.

Chase leans back in the chair he's sitting in and turns his head trying to look at Trzaska's face. "You all right Adam?"

Trzaska is still silent. He looks as if he's searching for words.

"What's wrong," Thirteen asks concerned.

Trzaska is still quiet. After a moment, he opens his mouth. Finding it dry, he closes it again and swallows before speaking. "Last night…House…"

Foreman leans forward in his chair, as does Thirteen. Taub nearly spills the coffee he was pouring, and Chase spins in the chair he was sitting in to look straight at Trzaska.

"He drove his car through Lisa's house," Trzaska finally spits out.

Taub drops his coffee cup spilling it on the floor. He stands there dumb stricken as Trzaska remains quiet. Foreman leans back with a thoughtful expression. Thirteen is the first to break the silence. "Is everyone okay," she asks.

Trzaska shakes his head once. "Wilson has a hairline fracture in his carpus. Lisa, Julia, and her husband are fine."

"Is Rachel okay," Thirteen asks.

"She was at Lisa's mom's," Trzaska replies.

"What about House," Chase asks.

"He's missing," Trzaska answers. "I don't think anyone we will be seeing him for a while." Trzaska finally looks up at everyone, making eye contact with each of them. They can see his eyes are bloodshot from exhaustion. Trzaska looks across the table at Foreman. "This is your department now," Trzaska says.

Taub bends down with a wet towel to clean the coffee he spilled.

Foreman looks over at Taub and then at Trzaska. "So what now?"

"Lisa said for you to see her in her office," Trzaska replies. She got here just before I did so she should be there now."

Foreman nods solemnly and gets up from his chair leaving the office.

Chase sits motionless in his chair still dumbfounded. Taub leaves to get another towel and Thirteen looks at Trzaska. "Are you okay," she asks. Trzaska doesn't say anything. Thirteen looks at Chase who makes eye contact with her. After a few seconds, he nods and Thirteen gets up and sits in a chair right next to Trzaska. "Let's get a drink tonight after work. You, me, and Chase." Trzaska doesn't reply. Thirteen puts her hand on his. "Okay?"

Trzaska nods and the three of them sit in the office in silence.

Meanwhile Foreman walks into Cuddy's office. He shuts the door behind him and finds Cuddy sitting on the couch in her office. She's looking at her desk and scanning the room. She doesn't say anything. She's wearing a black top and white skirt. Her legs are crossed and she's just staring.

"You wanted to see me," Foreman says not mentioning the incident from the night before.

Cuddy awakes to the fact that someone else is in the room. "Oh…yeah." After lingering in her seat for a moment, she uncrosses her legs, gets up, and navigates the room to her desk. She picks up a file and hands it to him. "Case was referred from the E.R. It's all yours. You're in charge now. For good."

Foreman takes the file and looks at Cuddy skeptically. "What about when House comes back?"

"There's no coming back for House," Cuddy responds. "Not this time."

Foreman nods and opens the file scanning over it. "I'll have my team get right on it." He turns to leave and then stops. He turns back around and looks at Cuddy who is now sitting behind her desk with her head in her hands. "I'm sorry."

She looks up at Foreman and smiles unconvincingly. "Me too."

Foreman nods and leaves her office.

Back upstairs in the diagnostics office, Trzaska pulls a bottle of pills from his pocket. He dumps one into his hand and pops it to the back of his throat, following it with coffee. Thirteen's eyes go wide. "Is that vicodin," she asks.

Trzaska nods.

"How is the leg by the way," Chase asks looking over from the computer he had gone back to.

"Better thanks for asking," Trzaska replies. He looks at Thirteen who looks disappointed. "Pain was getting worse, so Chase examined me and gave me a script for hydrocodone."

Thirteen looks behind Trzaska at Chase who isn't looking at her.

"Don't worry," Trzaska says smiling. "I'm not looking to replace House, I promise. I didn't coerce Robert and I'm not forging scripts. I just needed something a little stronger, and it's working. I'm only taking three a day."

"Is that the vicodin working or Heather," Chase asks.

Trzaska grins. "Maybe both."

Foreman walks in suddenly and passes out a file to each of the team members. Taub walks in behind him, with a file already in hand. "Twenty-six year old female who's been averaging eighteen hours of sleep a day since her admission," Foreman says.

"Clinical depression," Chase throws out. "What's the big mystery there?"

"It's not clinical depression," Foreman says. "Three ER doctors, two neurologists and a radiologist have all figured out what it's not, we need to figure out what it IS."

"The blood work showed no signs of inflammation, and no one can figure out what's actually the cause of…" Taub starts.

"Huh," Trzaska says.

"What," Thirteen questions.

"Husband described her as being unusually irritable recently," Trzaska states.

"And," Taub replies.

"She's irritable and sleeping eighteen hours a day," Trzaska says.

"What's interesting about that," Chase asks. "Hypersomnia is usually accompanied by irritability in depressed patients."

"True, but not relevant," Trzaska says. "She's not depressed."

"She's sleeping eighteen hours a day," Chase says again. "How is that not depression?"

"Fever," Thirteen says looking up from the file she had been reading. "Clinical depression doesn't cause fever."

"She could be sick and depressed," Chase says.

"Elevated SED rate indicates inflammation," Taub says.

"Hypersomnia and personality changes point toward the brain," Foreman says.

"No other systemic signs of inflammation, probably not vasculitis," Thirteen says.

"What about parasites," Trzaska suggests. "Malaria, chagas?"

"Patient's never been outside the United States, especially the tropics," Foreman says.

"You mean she claims she's never been outside the U.S.," Chase says.

Trzaska points at Chase and nods as if saying 'Exactly.'

"Doesn't matter, blood and c-sub smears show no sign of parasites," Foreman says.

"Then what about a tumor," Trzaska asks.

"A tumor sitting directly on top of the brain stem," Foreman says unconvinced. "That three ER doctors, two neurologists, and a radiologist missed?"

"Exactly, a tumor that everyone else missed," Trzaska says. "Isn't that why we get these cases, because everyone else missed something? We should redo the blood work and get a new MRI."

Everyone looks at Foreman.

Foreman thinks for a moment then nods. "Go get new tests. This time get 2 millimeter cuts through the mesodiencephalic."

Trzaska and Thirteen go down to Brittany's room to get consent.

"A tumor," Steve asks.

"We don't know, we're checking just to be safe," Trzaska says.

"They already checked for that," Steve says.

"The previous MRI had a broader view," Trzaska says.

Steve looks confused.

"Some tumors are almost impossible to see unless we know exactly where to look," Thirteen says stepping in.

"That means it would be small, right," Brittany asks.

"Yes," Thirteen says nodding.

"So you'd be able to operate? Take it out," Steve asks.

"If it is a tumor, there are a variety of treatment options, but there are variables other than just size," Trzaska says while bouncing his cane.

Steve looks at Brittany. "Don't worry…"

"Too late," she says.

Steve signs the consent form and then leans over to hold Brittany's hand.

A half hour later, Chase and Trzaska take Brittany down to radiology. Trzaska steps in the control room while Chase helps Brittany into the MRI. After a minute, Chase walks into the control room as well. He presses the button on the intercom to talk to Brittany. "Try to remain as still as possible. The less distortion there is, the more we'll be able to see." Chase sits down next to Trzaska and begins to watch the monitor. "So how'd dinner with Heather go Friday," he asks not looking away from the monitor.

"Good," Trzaska says. "Hit out a single down the sideline."

"Nice," Chase replies clicking some keys on the computer. "Second date lined up."

"Yeah, dinner at my place tomorrow," Trzaska replies.


	2. Aftermath Part 2

Disclaimer: House and all respective characters do not belong to me. I am only borrowing them for personal enjoyment.

Also I am not a doctor so I have decided to borrow cases used earlier in the show for medical accuracy. My creativity comes in with building and developing character relationships as well as introducing original characters. Criticism and reviews are most welcome. Hope you enjoy

* * *

Meanwhile downstairs, Cuddy is sitting at her desk working on paperwork. Wilson walks in shutting the door behind him. Cuddy looks up from her work noticing Wilson's cast. "How bad is it," she asks.

"Not bad," Wilson replies. "How are you holding up?"

"Not good," Cuddy says shaking her head. An expression of complete exhaustion on her face. "I'm leaving the hospital."

"What," Wilson says stupefied by Cuddy's statement.

"I need a change," Cuddy responds. "I can't just slip back into the same routine. Not after what happened."

Wilson nods solemnly.

Back in Brittany's Room an hour later.

"There were no lesions and no mass effect that we could see," Foreman says.

"What does that mean," Brittany asks.

"It means we're still not sure what's causing your neurological problems," Foreman says.

"I know some things are hard to cure, but what I just don't get is why it's taking so long to figure out what's wrong with her," Steve says.

"I know you're scared,,," Taub starts.

"I don't feel good…" Brittany says.

"You feeling nauseous," Taub asks.

"Honey? You all right," Steve asks.

"She's seizing!" Foreman yells. "Get her on her side. I need some Ativan!"

"What's happening," Steve asks.

"She's having a seizure," Taub says.

"She's aspirating, suction!" Foreman states.

"Come on Brittany," Taub says.

A few hours later, Brittany is being tested for neurologic problems. She has a pen and a pad of paper in her hands and is trying futilely to draw a circle.

The team is ddxing in the office. Wilson is there because they suspect a tumor.

"The MRI reveals nothing," Wilson says.

"That we were able to detect," Trzaska says.

"It's not a tumor," Wilson states shaking his head.

"A small glioma could hide from contrast," Trzaska says looking closer at the MRI scan. "We could do a PET scan."

"Yeah, that's how a responsible doctor would waste his time in the situation," Foreman says.

"Suddenly tests and radiologists aren't capable of error," Trzaska asks.

"A glioma not presenting on a contrast MRI would have to be smaller than a grain of sand, which wouldn't cause her to be this sick," Foreman says.

"It could be just postictal disorientation," Chase says.

"We would have seen improvement by now," Thirteen says.

"Late stage Lyme Disease can cause seizures," Chase says.

"Does the husband care about her," Trzaska asks.

"Hasn't left her bedside," Thirteen states.

"She doesn't have Lyme Disease then," Trzaska says.

"What? Love conquers all," Foreman asks.

"Lyme Disease initially presents with a rash," Trzaska replies. "Mr. Clingy would have noticed."

"We've looked at everything else," Taub says.

"Did you look at her breasts," Wilson asks. "Could be paraneoplastic."

"She have any family history of breast cancer," Chase asks.

"Her mother died of it," Thirteen responds looking from Chase to Foreman.

A few minutes later, in the hall outside of Brittany's room, Thirteen and Trzaska are talking to Steve.

"How can breast cancer cause problems in her brain," Steve asks.

"There are molecular similarities between brain cells and tumor cells," Thirteen says. "Paraneoplastic Syndrome causes the body's own antibodies to get thrown off track. They end up attacking the brain instead of the tumor."

"So if you do find the tumor, what do you do," Steve asks.

"We treat the underlying malignancy," Trzaska says. "Once there's no tumor to attack, there's nothing for the antibodies to get confused about."

"If the tumor's treatable," Steve says.

"Exactly," Trzaska replies.

Steve signs the consent form and a short while later, Thirteen is performing a mammogram on Brittany.

"OW," Brittany yells as Thirteen squeezes the machine down.

"Sorry, I know it's uncomfortable. The tighter we go, the better the image will be," Thirteen says.

"Least it'll keep me awake," Brittany says.

"Don't worry, it's almost over," Thirteen says.

"I wish people would stop telling me not to worry," Brittany states. Thirteen doesn't reply. "My mom was the same age. We've been trying to get pregnant for over a year. I guess we're lucky we didn't."

"A lot has changed since your mom died," Thirteen says trying to be supportive. "Don't worr…don't give up."

The team meets in the diagnostics office after Thirteen is finished with the mammogram.

"No tumor," Foreman asks.

"The MRI and mammogram only showed a few benign calcifications," Thirteen says.

"It's most likely a small cell tumor, it's no surprise we're having trouble finding it," Wilson says. "We should do a PET scan. Start with her lungs, and maybe her bones… Sometimes it presents with no tumor at all."

"How can a disease caused by a tumor present if there's no tumor," Chase says.

"It happens," Wilson says. "Twelve percent of cases."

"How do you treat it if there's no tumor," Trzaska asks.

"You don't," Foreman says. "Those twelve percent have no treatment. They were too busy looking for the tumor, right till they put the patient in the ground."

"What choice do we have," Taub asks.

"Treat the symptoms," Foreman says. "IV Immunoglobulin."

"So we're just going to ignore the tumor," Trzaska asks.

"If there is a tumor it'll eventually get bigger," Foreman says. "Then it'll be really easy to find. Someone needs to check out where she works."

"Why," Taub asks.

"Cause the husband's not sick," Foreman says.

"Meaning," Chase says.

"If it's not paraneoplastic and it is a reaction to some kind of toxic, it's obviously not coming from their home," Wilson says.

"I'll do it," Trzaska says leaving the office.

He leaves the hospital and drives his motorcycle to the kitchen where Brittany works.

"How long has Brittany worked here," Trzaska asks limping through the kitchen behind Brittany's boss Jacques. Others around them are going about their usual routines and cooking various dishes.

"Three years, she's my best rotisseur," Jacques says.

"What's that," Trzaska asks.

"The rotisseur prepares the roasted meats and gravies," Jacques replies.

"How do you clean your grill," Trzaska asks.

"A la force du poignet," Jacques replies. "They say elbow grease."

"Do you use chemical cleaners," Trzaska questions.

"Ah, no," Jacques replies. "Absolutely no, our chefs don't do the cleaning, anyway."

"What about pesticides," Trzaska asks. "You must spray for roaches and that sort of thing?"

"Nope, my kitchen is clean," Jacques says. "No roaches."

"Des cafards? Où,"one of the cooks asks. [Roaches? Where?]

"Non, allez au travail," Jacques replies. [No, get back to work.] "I need to get back to work," he tells Trzaska.

"And the fact that I'm here asking you these questions, it doesn't worry you," Trzaska asks.

"Look at me," Jacques says. "I'm here 18 hours a day. That guy practically lives here, he does live here… I use the same detergents for 15 years and everyone is healthy as a horse. Whatever Brittany has she didn't get here. Tell her I hope she feels better, and I had to get a new rotisseur."

On his way out, Trzaska sees that there is rabbit on a cutting board.

Back at the hospital in Brittany's Room, Thirteen is sitting on a chair reading a magazine while Brittany sleeps.

"Where's Steve," Brittany asks waking up.

"He went down to the gift shop to buy a shirt," Thirteen says looking up at Brittany. "I told him I'd stay up here in case you woke up."

"You must have better things to do," Brittany says.

"I send my laundry out," Thirteen replies.

"You're not married," Brittany asks.

"No," Thirteen says.

"Waiting for the perfect guy," Brittany asks.

Thirteen smiles and puts her magazine down, "Let me guess. You've already found him."

"He threw my towels out the window," Brittany states.

"What," Thirteen asks puzzled.

"It's how Steve and I met," Brittany answers. "Freshman year, he came to a party my roommate and I threw. He spent most of the night on the bathroom floor. He figured I wouldn't notice vomit on the towels if I didn't have any towels."

"So he came back the next day to apologize," Thirteen asks.

"No way," Brittany replies. "We had to track him down. Conflict resolution has never been one of Steve's strong points. Nobody's perfect, right?"

"Nobody's perfect," Thirteen repeats.

"Oh my neck hurts," Brittany says suddenly.

Thirteen gets up and adjusts the pillow. "You've been in this bed for a really long time. We're gonna do the same test we did last night, ok? Do you know what day it is?"

Brittany distractedly scratches her arm. "My arm itches."

"It's probably just a mild skin irritation, I'll get you some hydrocortisone in a minute," Thirteen says. "Do you know what day it is?"

Brittany is still scratching. "Monday. It really itches."

"I'm gonna get you that cream right now," Thirteen says.

Brittany continues scratching and stares in horror as bugs burst out of a boil in her arm.

"Oh my God," Brittany screams. "Get them off! Someone! Get them off of me!"

"Brittany calm down… I need some Haldol, 5 milligrams," Thirteen shouts. "There's nothing there, Brittany. There's nothing there!"

Brittany continues to scream as some of the nurses strap her down.

Chase and Foreman are walking towards the diagnostics office. "We had to sedate her," Chase says.

"You gave sedatives to a patient who's already sleeping eighteen hours a day," Foreman asks.

"It was better than letting her scratch all the skin off her arms," Chase says.

"Where's Wilson," Foreman asks opening the door to the office and entering.


	3. Aftermath Part 3

Disclaimer: House and all respective characters do not belong to me. I am only borrowing them for personal enjoyment.

Also I am not a doctor so I have decided to borrow cases used earlier in the show for medical accuracy. My creativity comes in with building and developing character relationships as well as introducing original characters. Criticism and reviews are most welcome. Hope you enjoy

* * *

A short while later the team is gathered in the office. Trzaska has returned and Wilson is there.

"Creepy-crawlies are consistent with paraneoplastic syndrome," Wilson says.

"Onset immediately after IVIG isn't," Thirteen says.

"What if she really has bugs under her skin," Trzaska asks.

"Infection," Chase says questioningly.

"Since she got worse after immunotherapy…" Trzaska says.

"Blood cultures and the timeline rule out most bacteria," Taub says.

"If someone throws up on your shoes do you clean up 'most' of it," Trzaska asks.

"Okay House," Taub says.

"The symptoms rule out the rest," Foreman says. "Serology rules out viruses, CSS smears rule out parasites."

"In the final stage of African Trypanosomiasis almost all the parasites are inside the brain. It's possible they wouldn't show on smears," Chase says.

"But it's not possible for a patient who's never been to Africa to have African Sleeping Sickness," Foreman argues.

"I'm just saying it fits the symptoms," Chase says.

"She could have got it from a transfusion," Wilson states.

"A transfusion which she never had," Thirteen asks.

"What about toxins," Wilson asks.

"No, the kitchen she works in is cleaner than some hospitals," Trzaska replies. "But they do serve rabbit. Rabbit Fever fits her symptoms."

"Tularemia initially presents with a rash or ulcer near the infection site," Chase says.

"Not if she inhaled it," Trzaska says. "Chopping the meat with a cleaver could easily aerosolize the bacteria."

"No, then she'd have respiratory symptoms," Thirteen argues.

"Maybe she ignored it, figured she had a cold," Taub suggests.

"We rejected Lyme Disease because the couple would have noticed a rash, but a wet hacking cough is just going to slip right by," Trzaska asks rhetorically.

"Hey, it's either that or she missed her exit on the turnpike and wound up in Africa," Foreman says.

A little while later, Chase, Taub, Thirteen, and Trzaska are in the lab running tests.

"So this should tell us whether or not she's got rabbit fever," Trzaska asks.

"For a diagnosis of Tularemia you need a four-fold increase in serum antibody levels," Thirteen says. "To measure an increase you need a before, all we have is an after."

"A single titer over 160 would be a big clue," Chase says.

"It has to be either Tularemia or African sleeping sickness," Thirteen says. "I say we take our best guess and just start treatment. Or treat both."

"The treatment for Tularemia can cause aplastic anemia," Taub says.

"And the treatment for sleeping sickness kills one in ten patients," Chase says.

"So we start with the safer treatment," Thirteen says.

"By 'safer' you mean the one that's slightly less likely to kill her," Trzaska asks.

"Pretty much," Chase replies.

Trzaska shakes his head and limps out of the lab. A few moments later he knocks on Cuddy's door three times and enters her office. "Having trouble with our patient," Trzaska says.

"Not now," Cuddy says not looking up from her paperwork.

Trzaska crosses the room and sits down in one of the chairs in front of Cuddy's desk. "We're stuck between Tularemia and African Sleeping Sickness. Both treatments are too risky to just give though."

"Seriously, not now," Cuddy says still not looking up.

Trzaska stands up and looks down over the papers Cuddy is working on. He sees her signing a letter of resignation. "You're leaving?"

"Yes Adam, I'm leaving," Cuddy almost yells. "I can't stay here anymore. It's time to start over. After all of the abuse I've taken from House, this was the last straw."

"House is gone though," Trzaska says. "What reason do you have to leave? If he comes back he goes to jail, i.e. he's not coming back. There's no more abuse to take."

"There are a lot of memories here," Cuddy says. "It's just better to leave."

"You're an idiot," Trzaska says. "That's crap and you know it."

"I want…" Cuddy starts before being interrupted by Trzaska.

"You remember when I wanted to drop out of college after Kaycee killed herself," Trzaska asks. "What did you tell me?"

"That…that…" Cuddy stammers.

"That everyone's responsible for their own actions," Trzaska says for her. "We can't blame choices others make on ourselves and we can't take back the selfish things that others do. Sometimes bad things happen to good people. You just have to keep your head down and push through it. If you work at it, things will eventually get better."

Cuddy is silent.

"I know you're stressed," Trzaska starts. "But don't deal with it like this. Go buy something expensive or find that boy toy of yours and throw your legs up in the air and…" his voice trails off as he gets an idea.

"Adam? You okay," Cuddy asks.

"Yeah, I just figured out what's wrong with our patient," Trzaska says. He grabs the resignation letter from Cuddy's desk and crumples it up in his hand. "See you tomorrow," he says as he limps out of her office tossing the letter in the trash on the way out. Cuddy smiles and wipes a tear as Trzaska leaves.

A paper prints in the lab right as Trzaska limps in.

"Find anything," Trzaska asks.

"No, not surprisingly," Thirteen says.

"Too bad," Trzaska says. "Luckily, I have the answer."

"To what," Chase asks.

"To life itself," Trzaska says. "Sex. Anything that can be transmitted via the blood can be transmitted through sex."

"Sleeping sickness from sex," Taub asks.

"It's not without precedent," Trzaska says.

"I'm pretty sure it is," Chase says. "Unless you're talking about going to Africa and having sex with the tse tse fly."

"I looked it up," Trzaska replies. "A Portuguese man was diagnosed three years ago with CNS affected sleeping sickness. His only connection with Africa was through a girlfriend who served under the military in Angola."

"Oi, where'd you find that," Chase asks.

"The journal de Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical," Trzaska replies. "You don't read Portuguese?"

"You do," Thirteen asks.

"Nope, but Google Translator does," Trzaska replies smiling.

"Impressive," Thirteen says.

"That's great but her husband has never been to Africa either," Taub interjects.

"And it's impossible for her to have sex with anyone else," Trzaska asks.

"I think ignoring respiratory symptoms is more likely than cheating," Thirteen says.

"Because…" Trzaska asks.

"They're completely devoted to each other," Thirteen says.

"Because…" Trzaska asks again.

"They love each other," Taub says.

"Or," Trzaska says.

"They're overcompensating for guilt," Chase says.

"Now we just have to find out which it is," Trzaska says. "I'll go tell Foreman and get his approval." Trzaska turns and leaves.

Foreman is looking over some paperwork in the office when Trzaska gets there. "I think she got African Sleeping Sickness from sex."

"Her husband hasn't been to Africa," Foreman says.

"Isn't it possible she slept with someone else," Trzaska asks.

"Everybody lies," Foreman says to himself while nodding. "Go find out."

Trzaska leaves and once downstairs he tells the team. Trzaska goes to talk to Steve while Thirteen goes to talk to Brittany.

"So… it's either sleeping sickness or this rabbit thing," Steve asks.

"They're both fatal without treatment," Trzaska says. "And unfortunately the treatment for both is extremely dangerous."

"Are there tests you can do," Steve asks.

"Not at this stage," Trzaska answers. "But each condition has a unique history. We're hoping your answers to a few questions will help us."

"Sure. Whatever you need to know," Steve says.

"Before the sleeping problems, did you have any trouble breathing, a cough that wouldn't go away, anything like that," Thirteen asks.

"No," Brittany replies.

"Are you certain," Thirteen asks.

"Absolutely. I've never been away from her for more than a night, if she had breathing troubles, I would have noticed," Steve says.

Trzaska sighs, "The other condition is significantly more likely if you've had an affair."

"Have you ever had an affair," Thirteen asks.

"Of course not," Brittany responds.

"Are you sure," Thirteen asks.

"I think I'd remember cheating on my wife," Steve answers.

"You might be reluctant to admit it…" Trzaska starts.

"No," Steve says.

"I just want to be perfectly clear," Trzaska says very seriously. "If your wife has sleeping sickness and we don't treat her, she'll die."

"I would never do that to Steve. I love him," Brittany says.

"Absolutely not," Steve says. "I love her."

Trzaska and Thirteen meet up with the rest of the team in the ddx office once they are done.

"He swears he hasn't cheated," Trzaska says.

"Same on my side," Thirteen states.

"Alright then," Foreman says. "They say no cheating, we cross off sleeping sickness. Any new ideas?"

No one says anything.

"Ok, we go with Trzaska's Tularemia. Start her on IV-Chloramphenicol 25 milligrams per kilogram four times a day," Foreman says.

"Actually I think Chase is right," Trzaska responds.

"They say no cheating," Foreman replies. "We go with Tularemia. Taub start the treatment."

Foreman grabs his briefcase and coat, leaving for the day. Trzaska, Chase, and Thirteen also leave while Taub goes to Brittany's Room to administer the medicine.


	4. Aftermath Part 4

Disclaimer: House and all respective characters do not belong to me. I am only borrowing them for personal enjoyment.

Also I am not a doctor so I have decided to borrow cases used earlier in the show for medical accuracy. My creativity comes in with building and developing character relationships as well as introducing original characters. Criticism and reviews are most welcome. Hope you enjoy

* * *

Chase, Thirteen, and Trzaska all take their own rides to a local bar downtown. Getting off his bike, Trzaska looks up at the sign that reads The Three Kings. He packs his helmet away, grabs his cane, and limps into the bar. He sees Thirteen and Chase at a table in the back and he limps over to them.

"What's your poison mate," Chase asks.

"Tequila," Trzaska answers. "Everyone game?"

"Count me in," Chase says.

"Me two," Thirteen says sipping a martini.

The waitress comes over seeing Trzaska walked in the door. "What can I get for you," she asks with a smile. She's a young, petite, blonde woman.

"Hello there…Stephanie," Trzaska says looking at her nametag. "Three tequila shots please. Top shelf."

"You got it," Stephanie says walking away.

"You okay," Thirteen asks.

"Yeah," Trzaska answers while taking a seat. "I just feel like I'm having an identity crisis. I've spent the last several years trying to be just like House. Wanting to save just as many people as him. But now…" he trails off for a moment before finding his voice again. "I don't ever want to end up driving thru someone's house."

Thirteen and Chase are silent for a second. "You don't have to be an ass to be a good doctor," Chase says. "Take the good with the bad."

"The reason House is so good is because he's so obsessive," Trzaska says. "When someone is that obsessed about their work, personal relationships kind of fall through."

"Why do you always call Cuddy Lisa," Thirteen asks setting her drink down just as Stephanie comes back with their shots. She drops them off and leaves.

"What," Trzaska asks confused.

"Everyone calls her Cuddy," Thirteen states. "Even House, but you call her by her first name. Means you have some sort of relationship with her. And she prepared you for us. She didn't do that for anyone else."

"She's right," Chase says.

Trzaska smiles. "Cheers," he says holding his shot up. The others do the same before tapping them on the table and shooting them. "I guess I can share my little secret now that House is gone."

"Need anything else," Stephanie asks coming by.

"Three more tequila shots and a Shiner Bock please," Trzaska answers. Stephanie smiles and leaves again to get their drinks.

Trzaska leans back and puts his hands behind his head. "Lisa used to babysit me when I was younger. Parents would go out and Lisa was trying to make some money while she was in high school. So yes, Lisa and I are very good friends. She was almost like a mother. That's why this is bothering me so much."

"That makes a lot of sense," Chase says.

"That would have been a great puzzle for House to figure out," Thirteen says. "Shame he's not around to solve it."

Later at the hospital, Taub is giving Brittany another dose of meds.

"Where's Steve," Brittany asks.

"Right next to you," Taub says. "Two down, two to go."

"Two days," Brittany asks.

"No, doses," Taub says. "You have about twenty more days of this fun."

"What time is it," Brittany asks.

"About four a.m," Taub says. "I pulled the short straw." He checks the monitor. "Flow rate looks good. No rash or flushing…"

"What time is it," Brittany asks somewhat incoherently.

"Four a.m. Do you not remember just asking," Taub asks.

"I don't know…" Brittany says.

"Brittany…? Brittany? Brittany? Brittany!" Taub starts gently shaking Brittany.

"What are you doing," Steve asks.

Taub shakes a little harder. "Trying to wake her."

"She fall asleep again," Steve asks.

"In the middle of a sentence," Taub replies.

"What's happening," a nurse asks coming in after hearing the commotion.

"Patient's not responding," Taub says. "Pulse is fine, airways open. Check her blood pressure." He shines a light in Brittany's eye. "Pupils are reactive."

"Brittany wake up," Steve pleads. "You gotta wake up." Taub is pinching Brittany's finger. "What does that mean? What are you doing?"

"She's not responsive to pain," Taub answers. "Come on Brittany!"

"Is she dying," Steve asks.

"I don't know," Taub responds. He looks at the monitor…realizes… "She's in a coma."

Once everyone arrives in the morning Taub informs them of what happened. They are all walking down the hall toward the patient's room.

"There's only one way a Tularemia patient goes into a coma while on IV-Chloramphenicol," Foreman says.

"The patient doesn't have Tularemia," Thirteen says.

"And then there was one," Chase says. "Patient comes in because she's sleeping too much. It takes ten doctors and a coma to diagnose sleeping sickness."

"And then there was none," Foreman says. "We still have the problem of explaining how a white chick from Jersey who's never traveled south of D.C. has African Sleeping Sickness."

"Well, the obvious explanation," Chase says.

"I made it clear. If this guy's lying about sleeping around, he knows he's murdering his wife," Trzaska says.

"Does seem unlikely…" Foreman enters Brittany's room while the rest of the team stays out in the hall. Foreman lifts Brittany's arms then drops them.

Steve appears out of nowhere. "What are you doing?"

"Checking for lymphadenopathy," Foreman says. "And waiting for you. Your wife has human African Trypanosomiasis." Steve looks puzzled. "Sleeping sickness."

"You mean it's not Tularemia, a virus, tumor or…or cancer," Steve asks.

"Nope," Foreman answers.

"I've never had an affair," Steve says.

"I believe you," Foreman responds.

"And I trust Brittany," Steve says.

"The treatment for this disease is a drug that's…fatal on its own ten percent of the time," Foreman says. Steve looks rather scared. "Which is why I need your written consent before I can legally prescribe it."

"Why would she lie if she knew it could kill her," Steve asks.

"To protect you, because she didn't think it mattered," Foreman says. "It just seemed easier because…that's what people do. Now, If you're absolutely certain that your wife has never had sex with anyone but you since you've been married, then we're wrong. But if you think there's a possibility that just one time she wasn't perfect…one weekend you're out of town…one fight when she ran to a friend, one stupid Christmas party…then you need to allow us to start treatment. Because if we don't…she's gonna be dead by tomorrow morning." Steve thinks it over. "Do you trust your wife that much?"

"I don't know… " Steve says pausing afterward.

"I'll start the treatment," Foreman says.

A short while later in Brittany 's Room, Trzaska sets down a heavy-looking briefcase and opens it to find three syringes.

"Glass syringes," Trzaska says questioningly.

"And special IV tubing," Chase says.

"Why do we need this stuff," Trzaska asks.

"Because Melarsoprol melts plastic," Chase answers. "This stuff's supposedly arsenic mixed with antifreeze."

"What doesn't kill us makes us stronger, huh," Trzaska says.

"At least you wouldn't have been so glib if you'd been prescribed Melarsoprol," Chase says.

"Can cause vomiting, abdominal pain, blood toxicity, neural damage, cardiac arrhythmia…" Trzaska says reading a label.

"Forgot to say it's gonna hurt like all hell," Chase states.

"She's lucky she's in a coma," Trzaska says. Chase injects the Melarsoprol.

Later that night, Thirteen is in Brittany's room checking on her.

"How long before we know it's working," Steve asks.

"It's tough to say," Thirteen says making a note on Brittany's chart. "It's a good sign that she hasn't gotten any worse."

"Does she even know I'm here," Steve asks.

"She knows you're always there for her," Thirteen says.

"Yeah…if she gets better it means she wasn't always there for me," Steve says.

"It means she made a mistake," Thirteen says hanging the chart back at the end of the bed.

"I can't help it. Part of me, a big part of me…can't handle that," Steve says. "Doesn't want her to get better." Thirteen heads for the door. "Does that make me a terrible person?"

Thirteen hesitates at the door for a moment. "Yes," she answers just before leaving.

Trzaska leans on the doorframe in front of Heather's office. He smiles since she hasn't noticed he's standing there yet. Suddenly she looks up and notices him. She smiles back at him. "Adam," she says delightfully.

"Hey there," Trzaska responds. "You ready?"

"Almost," Heather responds. "Come in, have a seat. Take the weight off your leg."

Trzaska limps in and takes a seat in front of Heather.

"So what kind of food are you making tonight," Heather asks while sorting some paperwork.

"Now what fun would it be to reveal the surprise before it's time," Trzaska asks.

"Oh the suspense is killing me," Heather says shaking her arms in mock frustration. "But I don't know how you're going to top pizza and beer," she says laughing.

"I think I can come up with something tastier and healthier," Trzaska replies.

"Can't wait," Heather says.

Trzaska's pager beeps. He looks at it and then at Heather. "Sorry, duty calls."

Heather smiles, "Go save another life."

Trzaska gets up and leaves. He meets Chase outside Brittany's room.

"Fever spiked at 104," Chase says. "Echo shows global hyperkinesis."

"Blood pressure," Trzaska asks.

"Barely 90 over 40," Chase says.

"You give her dopamine," Trzaska asks.

"Started 270 micrograms per minute ten minutes ago, still no change," Chase says.

They enter Brittany 's room and look hopefully at Foreman, who is shaking his head. Thirteen and Taub are also there.

"Killing her parasites isn't gonna do much good if we kill her heart at the same time," Chase says.

"A heart can be replaced, a brain can't," Thirteen says.

"Right now were killing both," Chase says. He looks at Foreman. "If she's gonna die, we should at least let her do it without that acid flowing through her veins."

Steve enters behind them. "What's happening?"

"We would have expected your wife's condition to show some improvement by now, but it hasn't," Foreman says. "It's going the other way."

Steve crosses the room and takes Brittany's hand. "Please don't die…" He stifles a sob. "Please don't die…"

Brittany 's heart rate climbs and her hand moves.

"She's awake," Steve says excitedly.

After checking her out the team leaves. Steve is talking to Brittany in her room. Outside, Thirteen looks through the glass window.

"Hey. She's gonna be ok," Trzaska says.

"Yeah, sure," Thirteen says. Steve leaves the room with his suitcase. Brittany starts to cry. Thirteen catches up to Steve. "What are you gonna do? Were you always honest with her? Do you know how lucky you are? Your wife is alive, she loves you!"

"What she did…you can't love a person and do that to them," Steve says.

"She LOVES you," Thirteen reiterates.

Steve leaves

Trzaska enters Brittany 's room and pulls a stool over with his cane. He sits down on it. "I need to know who you had the affair with. He has to be notified so he can get treatment as well." Trzaska pauses for a moment. "Why did you lie to us? You knew your life was at stake."

"He's not coming back, is he," Brittany asks staring at the ceiling.

"We all make mistakes, and we all pay a price," Trzaska says. He pauses again. Brittany sniffles. "I need that name."

Thirteen and Chase go to a house. There is a little boy sitting outside.

"Hi…how you doing," Thirteen asks the boy.

"Fine," the boy replies.

"Do you know where your dad is," Thirteen asks him.

Steve 's jogging friend, Jake, comes out of the house. "Can I help you," Jake asks.


	5. Coming Into Your Own Part 1

Disclaimer: House and all respective characters do not belong to me. I am only borrowing them for personal enjoyment.

Also I am not a doctor so I have decided to borrow cases used earlier in the show for medical accuracy. My creativity comes in with building and developing character relationships as well as introducing original characters. Criticism and reviews are most welcome. Hope you enjoy

**A/N: The world continues to turn even after House is gone. How did the team handle their first case without him? As always please read and review.**

* * *

A young man is sitting on his bed, leaning back against the wall talking on the telephone. He's wearing a t-shirt and a pair of athletic shorts.

"I didn't sleep well last night, and I woke up with a scratchy throat," he says into the phone. "I just don't feel so good." He pauses and coughs, then clears his throat. "Yeah, I'm…I've a bit of an upset stomach too, and I think I'm running a fever. "I'm just worried I might be contagious." He coughs again. "Inventory, tomorrow, yeah I'm sure I'll be feeling better by then." He pauses. "Thanks, Mr. Bobby."

He hangs up the call and lays back. There's a young girl straddling his thighs. She's blonde and very fair skinned.

"Jason, I cannot believe you just did that," she says.

"I really do have a cough," Jason says.

"Oh, so you weren't lying, you'd be curled up in bed with a bowl of chicken soup even if you didn't have a horny girl in your bed," the girl asks.

"Yes," Jason responds laughing. "Because I really do, hey, Vanessa…I really do have a cough," he says as she starts kissing him.

"You also have a little rash," Vanessa says giggling.

"Um, umm, I'm uh not sure that we should be kissing," Jason says.

"Oh, that's ok, because I have almost no interest in kissing you," Vanessa says biting her lower lip.

They both laugh, Vanessa moves up to Jason's lap and starts grinding on him. They quickly remove their clothes and begin to have sex. Vanessa rides him and grabs the headboard behind him shaking it roughly. She moans and screams for several minutes as she reaches ecstasy and then collapses down on top of Jason.

Vanessa rolls over so she is now lying on her back next to Jason. She's panting and giggling. "Oh, Jason," she says singsong. "Jason, I know I'm good but come on. Jason, Jason, Jason…"

Jason is unconscious.

She screams his name while shaking him and cries for help when he doesn't respond.

In another part of Princeton, in a loft apartment, Trzaska is just waking up. The sun is coming in through the large window behind his iron headboard. There is a pair of handcuffs dangling from each side of the headboard. Clothes are strewn all over the room including a camisole that's draped over his laptop. Trzaska blinks and yawns as his senses start to come back to him. Dinner had gone well last night. Proof of that was lying next to him in bed. Heather was still cuddled up under the covers and sound asleep. Trzaska smiles and gets out of bed gently, hoping not to wake her. He slowly limps into the bathroom and looks in the mirror. He turns the faucet on and splashes some water on his face. Pulling his bottom lip down he finds he has a small cut. Turning his head back and forth, he notices bite marks on both sides of his neck, his right shoulder, and his left peck. He turns around to look at Heather who is still asleep and smiles while shaking his head.

An hour and a half later everyone on the team starts to arrive at the hospital. First Foreman, then Taub, Thirteen, Chase and finally Trzaska. Trzaska is straining a little as he limps in.

"Rough night," Chase asks as Trzaska sits down with his cup of coffee in hand.

"Very," Trzaska replies with a smile on his face.

Foreman comes into the room from his office to find everyone is seated around the table. He starts passing out copies of a file. "Nineteen year old admitted to the ER this morning. CBC was unremarkable, abdominal CT scan didn't show anything and blood pressure's not responding to IV fluids. So, people, differential diagnosis. What's wrong with him?"

"Absidia infection," Chase suggests after doing a quick sweep through the file.

"No, you wouldn't get the rash or cough," Foreman says. "What about arthritis? Accompanying vasculitis causes nerve damage…"

"No, it wouldn't cause the blood pressure problems," Thirteen interrupts. "Allergy?"

"The kid's got abdominal pain," Taub says. "Maybe carcinoid?"

"Nah, but then you wouldn't get the…" Foreman begins but is interrupted by Trzaska.

"Arthritis is a lame diagnosis," Trzaska blurts out suddenly while looking at Foreman. "If you're going to list all the things it's not, it might be quicker to do it alphabetically. And Absidia doesn't account for any of the symptoms."

"No condition accounts for all these symptoms," Thirteen says.

"If we don't control the blood pressure he's going to start circling the drain before we CAN figure out what's wrong with him," Trzaska says.

Everyone stops talking and looks at Foreman.

"Treat him for sepsis, broad-spectrum antibiotics and get a cort-stim test and an echocardiogram," Foreman says. Everyone gets up to go run tests.

A short while later Chase and Trzaska are performing the echocardiogram. Jason is coughing.

"You all right," Chase asks.

"Yeah," Jason replies.

"Cort-stim tests will tell us if your pituitary and adrenal glands are working properly," Trzaska states.

"His glands," Vanessa asks. "What does that mean?"

"We have a few theories we're working on," Chase states.

"You mean you don't know," Vanessa corrects.

Jason tries to calm her down, "Vanessa…"

"I'm just saying if they knew they wouldn't be testing you, they'd be treating you," she replies a little shakily.

"Yeah, well, that's the way it works," Trzaska says. "First you find out what it is, then we get you better."

Meanwhile Thirteen and Taub are stepping into the elevator on their way back up after putting in an hour in the clinic. "Hold the door," a young woman calls out. Thirteen reaches out, stopping the door just before it shuts. Heather appears on the other side of the now open door smiling and carrying two coffees. "Thank you," she says stepping into the elevator between the two doctors. Thirteen and Taub smile at her but don't say anything. Heather looks at Taub, then at Thirteen and then looks at the panel to push the button for her destined floor. She gets an awestruck look on her face. "Do the two of you work with Adam," Heather asks looking between the two of them.

Taub and Thirteen share a glance. "And who are you," Taub asks almost rudely.

"Oh I'm sorry, I'm Heather," she says smiling and stacks the coffees to shake first Taub's hand and then Thirteen's. "I work in Physio. Just bringing Adam some coffee. Thought he would like some."

The doors to the elevator open and the three step out and start walking down the hall. "He's with a patient but you can wait in our office for him," Thirteen says. "He should be back any minute." Thirteen smiles a little mischievously at Taub and opens the door to the Diagnostics Office.

A short while later, Chase and Trzaska are walking down the hallway. Vanessa runs up to them.

"Dr. Chase," Vanessa calls out.

Trzaska and Chase stop and turn to look at Vanessa. "I'm not sure scaring your boyfriend is the best medicine for him right now," Chase says scolding her.

"I know, I get… stupid when I'm scared," Vanessa replies a little embarrassed.

"Don't go rock climbing," Chase says nodding and turning back around to leave.

"Look, I was wondering…." she says stopping them again. "Before this happened, we were having sex."

"What, you, you're wondering if whatever he has you might have gotten it," Chase asks. "It's unlikely, we ran a complete STD panel, so…"

"No, I was wondering if maybe I did this to him," Vanessa says while turning red. "I was kind of rough."

"It's unlikely, young men don't die from sex," Chase says a little unsure of himself. "Look, we'll get him better. I promise."

Vanessa smiles politely and walks away.

A few minutes later Chase and Trzaska walk into the office laughing. Thirteen, Taub, and Heather are sitting around the table.

"Heather," Adam says upon seeing Heather in the office. "What are you doing here?"

"Just thought I'd bring you some coffee," she says crossing the room and giving him a kiss. "I'm sure you're tired." She hands him the coffee and winks at him.

"Uh…yeah…thanks…" Trzaska says still surprised.

"That's it just wanted to bring you coffee," Heather says taking a step back. "Nice to meet you Dr. Taub, Dr. Hadley," she says waving at them. "Dr. Chase," Heather says with a smile as she passes Chase on the way out.

Trzaska is staring after Heather not really sure what just happened.

"Yes Adam, you must be tired after that long night you had last night," Thirteen says, visibly trying not to laugh.

"I…um…" Trzaska stammers.

"Is that why you've been limping a little harder this morning," Chase asks. "You pull a muscle last night old boy?"

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about," Trzaska says taking a sip of his coffee and going to take a seat next to Thirteen.

"A girl who makes a bold move like that must have left some evidence," Taub says, getting in on ribbing Trzaska.

"Let's see," Chase says crossing the room to get a closer look at Trzaska.

Trzaska sets down his coffee and puts his hands up to defend himself. "Now now children, surely we have better things to talk about," Trzaska says while laughing. "It's got to be viral. We should start running gels and titers." He says changing the subject.

"After we get done giving you a hard time for getting laid last night," Thirteen says leaning forward and pulling down Trzaska's collar. "Ah hah, hickies." She starts laughing hard. Taub and Chase also start laughing as does Trzaska.

"Maybe we should test the girlfriend's theory," Chase says. "She thinks she rode him to death."

"What did you tell her," Taub asks still laughing.

"Well, I told her 22-year old men don't die of sex," Chase says unable to quell his own laughter.

"What'd you ask her," Thirteen says no longer laughing.

"What do you mean," Chase asks and becomes serious now that Thirteen has.

"I just hope you got some specifics on exactly what was going on," Thirteen says. "It's a girl who thinks it could kill you… it's worth knowing about." She pauses for a moment before she returns to laughing.

"Have you ever taken a life Dr. Hadley," Trzaska asks in a mocking tone. Thirteen tilts her head as if thinking and just starts laughing again causing the others to join in with her.

The door to the office opens and Foreman walks in holding a printout. The others start to slow their laughter until it has completely stopped. "We should stop the antibiotics," Foreman says.

"It's too soon to say they're not having an effect," Thirteen says.

"They're having an effect," Foreman replies. "His BP's falling fast. There's fluid filling his lungs. His creatinine's rising. His kidneys are shutting down. Our treatment isn't making him better, it's killing him." Foreman walks over to the whiteboard and adds kidney failure to the list of symptoms.

"Great, we had six symptoms that didn't add up to anything, now we have seven," Taub says.

"What if the kidney failure was caused by the antibiotics," Trzaska suggests.

"Maybe," Foreman says, inviting Trzaska to continue.

"Typically, low blood pressure and abdominal pain means an infection," Trzaska states. "An abdominal infection causes sepsis, low blood pressure…"

"Except we checked for abdominal infections," Chase interrupts.

"I know, but what if it's the other way around," Trzaska suggests. "What if the low blood pressure is causing the abdominal pain?"

"Viral heart infection," Thirteen says. "The intestines aren't getting enough blood, and the result is belly pain."

"I know it's not the standard presentation," Trzaska says.

"It's a 10 million to one shot," Taub states.

"I thought that's what we dealt with, here," Trzaska says looking around at the other members of the team. "It explains the cardiomyopathy, pain, the low BP, the fever."

"Doesn't explain the cough and the rash," Foreman says. "Should we just erase those?"

"Well, anything can cause a rash," Trzaska states while shrugging his shoulders.

Foreman stares at the board for a minute, and then smiles as an epiphany comes to him. "Thirteen's right. No condition explains all of these symptoms. But hypothyroidism coupled with a sinus infection would."

"Two conditions, contracted simultaneously," Chase asks suspiciously.

"Occam's Razor," Trzaska says shaking his head. "The simplest explanation is always the best."

"Let's say a baby shows up," Foreman starts. "Chase tells you that two people exchanged fluids to create this being. I tell you that one stork dropped the little tyke off in a diaper. You going to go with the two or the one?"

"That's not the same thing," Thirteen says.

"Why is one simpler than two," Foreman says arguing his point. "Each of these conditions is about a thousand to one shot. That means that any two of them happening at the same time is a million to one shot. Taub says that cardiac infection is a 10 million to one shot, which makes my idea 10 times better than yours." Foreman says looking at Trzaska. "Run the numbers."

The team is silent for a few seconds before Chase speaks up. "We'll run the tests."

"Tests take time," Taub says. "Treatment's quicker."

"Start the kid on Unacin for the sinus infection and levothyroxine for the hypothyroidism," Foreman says.


	6. Coming Into Your Own Part 2

Disclaimer: House and all respective characters do not belong to me. I am only borrowing them for personal enjoyment.

Also I am not a doctor so I have decided to borrow cases used earlier in the show for medical accuracy. My creativity comes in with building and developing character relationships as well as introducing original characters. Criticism and reviews are most welcome. Hope you enjoy

* * *

The team gets up and leaves to start the new treatment, while they're all walking down the hall Trzaska's pager goes off. "Y'all got this," he asks after checking his pager.

"Yeah, do what you gotta do," Chase replies.

Trzaska nods and limps off down the hall towards the elevator.

A short while later in Jason's room, Thirteen is starting the treatment.

"My uncle has hypothyroidism," Jason says.

"Not like this," Thirteen says. "Intravenous levothyroxine is an artificial thyroid medication that should take care of it. Also, the nurses are going to start you on Unacin, it's a more targeted antibiotic."

"For the sinus infection," Vanessa asks.

"Yes," Thirteen replies.

"And the other stuff is for…something else entirely," Vanessa asks.

"Bad luck, huh," Thirteen says. "Don't worry, he should be back to ditching work in no time."

The door opens and Jason's parents come in.

"Jason," Mrs. Jankowsky says.

"Hey," Jason responds before he coughs.

"We're his parents," Mr. Jankowsky says. "How's he doing?"

"Um, Jason is…" Thirteen starts but is interrupted by Jason.

"Um, Mom, Dad, this is Vanessa," he says shyly. "I was going to bring her home for Christmas, so…. We're engaged. Thirteen raises her eyebrows and Jason's parents smile.

Thirteen leaves the room. Chase and Taub catch up to her.

"Tell the family Foreman's theory," Chase asks.

"Two odd conditions striking completely coincidentally at the exact same time," Taub says sarcastically.

"I didn't phrase it quite that way," Thirteen responds as they walk down the hall.

"They agree to treatment," Chase asks.

"Of course they did, we're doctors," Taub says. "They believe whatever we tell them."

They walk several steps in silence before Chase says something. "You guys really think Foreman's right? I mean…two unrelated conditions happening at the same time."

"Got any better ideas," Thirteen asks as they turn a corner.

"House would never have gone for it," Taub says. "He would have berated Foreman for even suggesting that something was coincidental."

"What are you saying," Thirteen says, stopping and turning around to face the men.

"If you guys think Jason's fine, then we should all just go home and wait for the kid to get better," Chase starts. "I'm going to the lab to test for viral infections." He walks off; Thirteen and Taub share a look and then follow.

Trzaska knocks three times on Cuddy's door and waits for her to answer. When she does he turns the handle and enters. "You wanted to see me," he says limping up to her desk.

"Thank you," Cuddy says leaning back in her chair and looking Trzaska in the eyes. "I almost made a really rash decision yesterday and you stopped me. I just wanted to say thank you."

"You're welcome," Trzaska says and turns to leave.

"I wasn't finished," Cuddy says, stopping Trzaska mid stride. He turns back around and looks at her. "When I hired you and told you I wanted you to be like House I didn't mean by neglecting your clinic duties."

"But Mooooooommmm," Trzaska whines.

"You owe me thirty clinic hours by Labor Day," Cuddy states. "You did owe forty, but I took ten away as a favor for yesterday."

"But that's next month," Trzaska says.

"Then you best get busy," Cuddy says smiling sarcastically at Trzaska.

Trzaska nods and looks down, a little depressed. "That all?"

"Yes," Cuddy says still smiling.

Trzaska leaves and heads back upstairs to meet with the rest of the team.

Meanwhile in the lab.

"Negative for Coxsackie-B virus," Chase says.

"Seven down, about five thousand to go," Thirteen says. "You really think we're going to come up with your mystery virus by running gels until we guess it right?"

"Better than doing nothing when we know Foreman's wrong," Taub says.

"Or standing around watching other people work," Chase says.

"I'm waiting for the Epstein Barr virus," Taub says.

At this moment Trzaska walks in. "What's up," he asks everyone in the room.

"Testing for any ONE condition that may explain all of Jason's symptoms," Chase says. "How 'bout you?"

Trzaska takes a seat behind Chase, leans back and puts his feet up on a counter. "Just got read the riot act by Lisa, I owe thirty clinic hours by next month."

"Bummer," Chase responds.

"Guess that means fewer hickeys for you," Thirteen says finding Chase's eyes and snickering.

"I can't wait 'til I find out you hooked up with someone so I can give you as much of a hard time as you're giving me," Trzaska responds.

Chase, Taub, and Thirteen start laughing. A machine beeps. "Your Epstein Barr's ready," Chase says looking at Taub.

"There's got to be…" Trzaska's voice trails off. "Since y'all got this I'm gonna get started on my clinic hours." Trzaska gets up and limps out.

"Have fun," Thirteen calls out while continuing to chuckle.

"I never get tired of hearing him say y'all," Chase says snickering. "It's funny every time." He looks at Thirteen and Taub who also smile and laugh.

Ten minutes later Trzaska is examining a patient in the clinic. Trzaska is sitting on a stool with his phone in his hand.

"What are you doing," the patient asks. He is an average looking, adult, with receding hair and glasses.

"Level 4," Trzaska says.

"No, I mean…" the patient starts.

"I know what you meant," Trzaska replies not looking up from his phone. "We're waiting."

"My throat hurts," the patient says.

"So you said," Trzaska replies.

"How long are we waiting," the patient asks.

"Two minutes less then when you asked me two minutes ago," Trzaska replies. Cuddy walks in.

"Hi," the patient says.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Cuddy. Nice to meet you," she says smiling.

"Dr. Cuddy, thanks for the consult," Trzaska says putting his phone is his pocket. "His throat seems to have some condition."

Cuddy smiles awkwardly at the patient and pulls a flashlight from her lab coat. "Say 'Ah'.

The patient opens his mouth and does as she says. "Ah."

"He has a sore throat," Cuddy says looking irritated at Trzaska.

"Of course," Trzaska shouts brilliantly. "Yes, why didn't I…I mean, because he said that…it hurt, and I…I should have deduced that meant it was sore…"

"I was in a board meeting," Cuddy says.

"Patients come first right," Trzaska asks.

"Wouldn't want to prescribe a lozenge if there was any doubt about its efficacy huh," Cuddy says thick with sarcasm.

"I just…I'm still new at all this," Trzaska says. "I don't really know now do I?" Cuddy smiles at him.

"Hey! I'm here," the patient says.

"Go home," Cuddy says. "Drink some hot tea." She turns and leaves.

"Excellent counsel," Trzaska says to the patient who looks puzzled.

Meanwhile in the lab, Chase, Taub, and Thirteen are still working.

"Negative on parvovirus B19," Thirteen says.

"I'm impressed," Taub says.

"Yes, I was born to run gels," Thirteen says sarcastically and starts laughing.

"I meant about Trzaska," Taub says.

"What about 'im," Chase asks.

"Cuddy hand picked him to come in here and basically become House," Taub starts. "So it stands to reason he's going to get special treatment. But she's making him do clinic hours just like the rest of us."

"Just because someone gets selected for a prestigious job doesn't mean they're going to get special perks," Thirteen argues. "Cuddy may have handpicked and guided Trzaska into this job, but it doesn't mean he doesn't deserve to be here."

"Somebody's got a crush," Taub says looking under the microscope.

"No crush," Thirteen states. "I just don't like judging someone before I have enough information to paint a full picture."

"I think you've got the wrong idea about him," Chase says clicking a few keys on the computer. "Trzaska's just like the rest of us. He came here to learn from a diagnostic genius and he used what connections he had to get here. But he worked hard for those connections and to get this job. And hasn't he worked hard since he's been here? It's not like we've been carrying his dead weight around."

"I know," Taub says sighing. "I'm just stressed because of…the baby."

The door opens and Foreman enters. "Where's Trzaska," he asks looking around.

"Doing time in the clinic," Chase says.

"What are you doing here," Taub asks.

"Looking for you guys," Foreman replies and takes a seat.

"Why didn't you page us," Thirteen asks.

"'Cause I knew you'd be here," Foreman responds.

"Who told him," Chase asks looking back and forth from Thirteen to Taub.

"No one," Foreman says looking over the data on the monitor in front of Chase. "I assume you're trying to prove my crazy two-illness theory wrong, so, obviously, you're going to be in the lab. You spin the urine?"

"Not yet," Thirteen says.

Foreman shrugs and stands up. "Talk to me when you have." He turns and leaves.

An hour later Trzaska walks into the lab carrying a drink carrier that has four coffee cups in it. "Find out anything," he asks passing out the drinks to Taub, Thirteen, and Chase.

"The kidney failure is acute interstitial nephritis," Thirteen says before taking a sip of the coffee Trzaska had handed her.

"So Foreman was right," Trzaska says, thinking out loud. "Anyone tell him yet?"

"I'll do it," Chase says while sighing. "I wanted to prove him wrong."

"You're not the only one," Taub chimes in.

"Take a break," Trzaska says. "I'll do it. I'd rather deal with Foreman than swab crotches in the clinic." Trzaska gets up and leaves.

"Thanks for the coffee," Chase calls out just before the door shuts.

A few minutes later Trzaska opens the door to Foreman's office.

"What did you find out," Foreman asks looking up from paperwork he was doing.

"The kidney failure, it's acute interstitial nephritis," Trzaska says.

Foreman smiles and leans back in his chair, "I wonder if that's significant."

"It means the antibiotics didn't cause the kidney failure," Trzaska says and gets a puzzled look on his face. "How did you know?"

"Well, if you guys hadn't been so busy trying to prove me wrong, you might have checked in on the poor kid," Foreman replies arrogantly.

"I assume by your big grin that he's better," Trzaska says flexing his sarcastic muscle.

"I might've looked in on him and he might be doing much better," Foreman replies. "Ergo, the treatment's working. Ergo, I'm right and you were wrong."

"Hey, I'm happy for the kid," Trzaska says and turns leaving the office.

Still smiling, Foreman leans forward and goes back to the paperwork he was working on.


	7. Coming Into Your Own Part 3

Disclaimer: House and all respective characters do not belong to me. I am only borrowing them for personal enjoyment.

Also I am not a doctor so I have decided to borrow cases used earlier in the show for medical accuracy. My creativity comes in with building and developing character relationships as well as introducing original characters. Criticism and reviews are most welcome. Hope you enjoy

* * *

A short while later Trzaska enters Jason's room.

"Dr. Trzaska," Jason says and then coughs.

"Still have the cough," Trzaska asks.

Jason nods, "I'm feeling a lot better, though."

"His fever's gone, and his rash is going away," Mrs. Jankowsky says.

"I see," Trzaska replies and pulls some things out of a nearby cart.

"Is everything okay," Vanessa asks.

"Just ordering some tests," Trzaska replies smiling. "Absolutely nothing to worry about." Trzaska draws some blood and leaves Jason's room. He drops the blood off and orders his tests and leaves instructions for someone to find him in the clinic when the results come back.

After turning in the records of the third patient he's seen, a nurse hands Trzaska the lab results. Trzaska smiles and heads upstairs to the diagnostics office. He finds Foreman still working on paperwork but the stack he has been working on is much smaller.

"I ran a TSH, T3 and T4," Trzaska says. "Patient's negative for hypothyroidism

Foreman looks at the results for a minute. "Well the fact that he's getting better would indicate the unreliability of the tests."

"If I'm right and it's a viral infection, one of two things always happens: patient dies or the patient's immune system fights off the invader," Trzaska responds. "He's getting better. That doesn't prove you're right, it just proves he's getting better. "If I'm right, the antibiotics you prescribed could block his kidneys and liver, impeding his ability to fight off the virus. Could kill him."

"Fifty bucks," Foreman asks.

"You wanna bet on the patient's health," Trzaska asks.

"You think that's bad luck," Foreman asks. "Do you think that God will smite him because of our insensitivity? 'Cause if he does you make a quick fifty." Foreman pauses and then leans forward. "Tell you what, go check his white blood count. If he's fighting off a virus like you think it'll be way up."

Trzaska nods and leaves the office. He goes back down to the clinic and picks up the phone at the nurses' station. He orders a CBC with the leftover blood from what he had drawn. Then grabs a file and calls a patient into an exam room.

Meanwhile Thirteen, Chase, and Taub are in the elevator heading back up to the ddx office. "Guess Foreman's right after all," Chase says.

"That's all you have to say," Taub asks irritated. "How about a new idea for what's really wrong with this kid?"

"What are you afraid of," Chase asks.

"Really," Taub asks. "How about the way things went the last time Foreman was in charge? House liked screwing with people but Foreman gets off on the power."

"Since you're not dating him you should be fine," Thirteen says.

"They are living together," Chase says raising an eyebrow."

Meanwhile back in the clinic.

"How much longer," the patient asks. This time it's a young female. She's petite with blonde hair and blue eyes.

Trzaska is playing a game on his phone again. "2:30," Trzaska says looking at the clock on the wall. "I figure she was on the 8th hole when I paged her…" he grimaces as his guy dies, and hands her the phone. "Probably got another half hour. She starts to play as Wilson opens the door.

"Cuddy said you need a consult," Wilson says. "What's up? I'm busy."

"Her leg hurts after running six miles," Trzaska says. "What could it be!"

Wilson just looks irritated at Trzaska.

Several minutes later, Trzaska walks into the ddx office with a printout. Chase is on the computer while Taub and Thirteen are reading medical texts that are scattered on the table.

"Hey," Trzaska says to everyone.

Foreman walks in from his adjoining office, "White cell count isn't up, is it?"

"No, we were both wrong," Trzaska says tossing the paper to Thirteen and Taub. "White cell count is down, way down, and dropping. His immune system is shot. We need to get him into a clean room." Everyone looks at each other nervously.

Soon after, Chase and Jason are prepping to go into the clean room. Jason is sitting in a wheelchair and Chase is next to him.

"Can you walk Jason," Chase asks.

"Yeah, a little," Jason responds.

"All right, okay," Chase says. "'Cause we'll need to leave the chair outside." He turns to the nurse helping him. "Thank you…where's April? April!" April comes in. "Can you take the chair, please?" April leaves with the wheelchair and Chase turns to Jason. "I'll need to take your mask and your robe, too." Jason undresses and is now just wearing his boxers. "You might want to block your ears for this, it's quite loud." They're blasted with air. When that's done Chase starts getting Jason settled into the bed in the clean room.

Thirteen, Taub, the Jankowskys, and Vanessa are watching.

"Something's made his immune system compromised," Taub says.

"His white blood cell count is down, which means his body can't fight off infections," Thirteen states. "If he gets sick, he'll die."

"Sick. How sick," Mrs. Jankowsky asks.

"If he gets a cold, he'll die," Taub says.

Later, Chase is prepping Jason for a marrow sample. Jason is coughing.

"Okay, I'm going to push the needle into your hipbone, and take some of the marrow," Chase says and inserts a needle.

"That's not so bad," Jason says.

"Hah, that was just the anesthetic," Chase says. "The core biopsy needle, it's a little bit bigger. Okay man, take a deep breath, this is…this is gonna hurt. A lot." Jason grabs the bed and grimaces in pain. "Marrow makes the blood cells. You take a peek of it under a microscope, and maybe we find a viral infection. Maybe we find some fibrosis. Something to explain why your blood count is so low." He fills the syringe with marrow. "There we go. One step closer to an answer."

"What if you don't find one," Jason asks. "I can't stay here forever."

Meanwhile Trzaska is with Cuddy in her office.

"The patient could have died," Trzaska argues.

"The one with the pulled muscle," Cuddy questions.

"Well, those symptoms are consistent with a dozen other conditions," Trzaska reasons. "I, you know, I, I'm entitled to a consult!"

"You are not getting out of clinic duty," Cuddy says.

"Oh, come on," Trzaska whines. "You've got a hundred other idiot doctors in this building who go warm and fuzzy every time they pull a toy car out of a nose, you don't need me here."

"No, I don't, but believe it or not, working with people actually makes you a better doctor," Cuddy replies.

"When did I sign up for that course," Trzaska asks.

"When did I give you the impression that I care," Cuddy asks. She pauses waiting for his answer.

"Working in this clinic obviously instills a deep sense of compassion," Trzaska says sarcastically and starts to limp out. "I've got your home number, right? In case anything comes up at 3 o'clock in the morning."

It's not going to work," Cuddy says getting up from her desk and walking towards Trzaska. "You wanna know why? Because this is fun. You think of something to make me miserable, I think of something to make you miserable: it's a game! And I'm going to win, because I got a head start. You are already miserable. And by the way, now is really not the best time to be acting just like House. I think you know my current attitude towards House behavior." Cuddy leaves her office, and runs into Chase.

"Sorry," Chase says. Cuddy walks past him and Chase turns to Trzaska who is now also leaving Cuddy's office. Chase walks with him. "What's with her," Chase asks.

"She doesn't approve of my attempts to get out of clinic duty," Trzaska answers honestly while approaching the pharmacist. "Thirty-six vicodin," he says to the pharmacist.

"Who's the patient," the pharmacist asks.

"I am," Trzaska answers.

"You can't…" the pharmacist starts to protest.

"Dr. Chase is the prescribing physician," Trzaska says.

"Yeah," Chase says while nodding to the pharmacist. He looks back at Trzaska, "You try kissing a little ass?"

"I can't kiss Lisa's ass," Trzaska answers. "It's like kissing up to your mother or your sister. It just leaves a bad taste in your mouth." He grabs a bottle from the counter and turns to leave.

Chase's eyes go big. "Adam! Wrong bottle." He gives Trzaska the right bottle.

"Thanks," Trzaska says, putting the pills in his pocket and starting to walk away when suddenly he stops on the spot. "What was the kid's first symptom? Of his 800 symptoms, which one hit him first?"

"Ah, the cough," Chase says.

Trzaska leaves Chase confused, limps to the elevator and goes into the ddx office upstairs. Taub and Thirteen don't pay him any attention. Trzaska grabs two medical books from the bookshelf and carries them over to the computer. He stares at the white board and flips through the books as well as searching online.

A few hours later everyone is getting ready to go home when Trzaska gets up from the computer.

"Gout," Trzaska says as Foreman walks in with his briefcase. Chase, Taub, Thirteen, and Foreman look back and forth at each other.

"Um, are we talking about Jason," Chase asks.

"Gout? Uric acid crystals in the joints," Foreman asks. "The symptoms are pain, swelling, redness, stiffness…not one of which do I see on that board."

"Because he doesn't have gout," Trzaska says smiling. "Every day, cells die. We survive because the remaining cells divide and replace the losses. The colchicine, a gout medicine, blocks mitosis and stops cell division, which will result in abdominal pain, rash, nausea, fever, kidney failure, low blood pressure, and will also mess with the bone marrow." Trzaska crosses each of the symptoms off the white board as he lists them.

"But he doesn't have gout," Taub says. "Why would he have gout medication?"

"Because y'all were right," Trzaska says. "He didn't have two conditions at the exact same time. First, he got a cough. Now, because he's an idiot, he went to a doctor. In order to feel justified charging two hundred dollars, the doctor felt he should actually do something. He wrote a prescription. Seven thousand people die each year from pharmacy screw-ups. Not nearly as many as die from doctor screw-ups, but still, not something they use in their promotional material. The pharmacist gave him gout medicine instead of cough medicine. And the only thing it wouldn't do: it would do absolutely nothing to relieve his cough. Occam's Razor. The simplest explanation is almost always somebody screwed up."

"But once he checked into this hospital he was completely in our control," Thirteen interjects. "Our food, our pills, our everything. So even if you're right, no gout medication. He'd either continue to deteriorate or he would have gotten better. But he got better, and then he got worse. It doesn't fit. It doesn't make sense."

"Okay then, two people screwed up," Trzaska says. "Not as simple as one, but…come on." Trzaska walks out of the office and the others follow.

A few minutes later Trzaska and the rest of the team approach the Jankowskys and Vanessa sitting in a waiting room.

"He's resting; he…" Vanessa's voice trails off as she notices everyone walking toward them.

"I'm Dr. Trzaska," he says introducing himself to the Jankowskys. "Who gave Jason his cough medicine?

"Huh," Mrs. Jankowsky asks.

"There's a reason there's a nice, simple division of responsibilities in a hospital. You hold his hand, we get him better. If we start tucking him in at night, well, that's not fair to y'all, and if you start prescribing medicine, that's not fair to us. So what I want to know is: who stepped on our side of the line? Who cared enough to get stupid enough to give him his cough medicine?"

"When we checked in Dr. Foreman said…" Vanessa starts.

"Tuesday, he's getting better," Trzaska interrupts. "Wednesday, he's getting sick again. Somebody gave him his cough medicine Wednesday." He pauses waiting for someone to answer him. "Come on, nobody's gonna be mad. I just want to know who tried to kill the kid."

"Dr. Trzaska," Foreman's tone is reprimanding.

"His throat was sore," Mrs. Jankowsky bursts out.

The doctors' jaws drop except for Trzaska who smiles and looks back at Foreman. "Page Dr. Occam. He's gonna want to hear about this."

"I'm sorry," Mrs. Jankowsky shouts. "He was coughing, and I just wanted to help him…"

"Where are the pills," Trzaska interrupts.

"He took the last of them before he was switched into that room," Mrs. Jankowsky says.

"They're all gone," Thirteen asks.

"It was just cough medicine," Mrs. Jankowsky says.

"No, it wasn't," Trzaska states. "Where's the bottle?"


	8. Coming Into Your Own Part 4

Disclaimer: House and all respective characters do not belong to me. I am only borrowing them for personal enjoyment.

Also I am not a doctor so I have decided to borrow cases used earlier in the show for medical accuracy. My creativity comes in with building and developing character relationships as well as introducing original characters. Criticism and reviews are most welcome. Hope you enjoy

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Chase walks into a pharmacy with Vanessa and Mrs. Jankowsky to talk to the pharmacist.

"We need to know exactly what you put in this bottle," Chase says. "We think it was colchicine, a gout medication."

The pharmacist is a short, older, balding man with glasses. He looks at the label on the bottle. "If the prescription said cough medicine, that's what I dispensed."

"The family is prepared to waive liability, all right," Chase says. "We just need to know what it was, what dosage it was…"

"It was cough medicine," the pharmacist says annoyed.

Chase gives him the bottle. "Refill it."

The pharmacist sighs aggravated and goes to the back to refill the script.

Mrs. Jankowsky is absentmindedly looking at aspirin on the shelf. "He's going to be okay."

Vanessa turns from the counter to look at her. "You don't know that."

"Does Jason like that quality in you," Mrs. Jankowsky asks. "You're a little negative."

"Things don't always work out for the best," Vanessa says.

"It doesn't hurt to hope they do," Mrs. Jankowsky says.

"No, not unless it makes you figure you can do whatever you want, like give people cough medicine," Vanessa says with a sarcastic tone. Chase and the pharmacist come out from the back.

"This is cough medication," Chase says holding the bottle up. "This is what Jason was supposed to get." He shakes out three pills onto his hand. "They're small, round and yellow. Can you tell this man what the pills in your son's medicine bottle actually looked like?"

Mrs. Jankowsky looks into Chase's hand. "They were small, round and yellow, exactly like this."

"Those were the pills that Jason was taking," Vanessa says looking at the pills.

"Hey, I'm just a pharmacist, but I know what cough medicine looks like, Doctor," the pharmacist says snidely.

After Chase returns and reports the news to the rest of the team, Trzaska angrily goes to see Wilson. He knocks on the door and goes in taking a seat on the couch. Wilson had already heard from Foreman about Trzaska's idea and consequently that it was wrong.

"It was so perfect," Trzaska says twirling his cane. "It was beautiful."

"Beauty often seduces us on the road to truth," Wilson says from his desk.

"And triteness kicks us in the nads," Trzaska says.

"So true," Wilson says.

"This doesn't bother you," Trzaska asks.

"That you were wrong," Wilson asks. "I mean it is a setback to humanity House, but I'll…" Wilson brings his fist to his mouth and bites it, mocking pain. "I will try to work through the pain…"

Trzaska stops twirling his cane. "Hardy har har, I was not wrong. Everything I said was true. It fit, it was elegant."

"So…reality was wrong," Wilson says.

"Reality is almost always wrong," Trzaska says. The cough medicine did something. Aggravated the condition. It's all over the place, must be in his blood.

"What if it is his blood," Wilson suggests.

"Lymphoma," Trzaska asks.

"Unless you've got something better," Wilson says.

"Well, we foolishly ruled out lymphoma because his CT scan showed no adenophathy, CBC showed a normal diffen smear, bone marrow showed no…" Trzaska starts explaining.

"Screw the tests," Wilson says. "Do an exploratory laparotomy and find out what's in there."

"He has no blood pressure, no immune system and no kidneys," Trzaska says. "Surgery will kill him."

"Yeah, you're right. Let's stick with the wrong pill theory," Wilson says.

"I'll talk to Chase," Trzaska states. He gets up from the couch and leaves Wilson's office.

The next day, Vanessa and the Jankowskys are looking on as Thirteen, Taub, and Chase work on Jason in the clean room.

"Okay, Jason, we're gonna run this tube through your heart and into the pulmonary arteries in your lung," Chase explains.

Sensors will give us information we need for the exploratory surgery later this afternoon," Thirteen informs.

"My fingers are numb," Jason says.

"Try not to move," Taub says. "We're in the right atrium, trying to catch the flow through the tricuspid valve."

"I think the catheter's curling in the atrium," Thirteen says.

"Got it," Chase says. "We're in the RV now." A monitor beeps.

"Ectopy," Taub says. "You must have irritated the heart wall."

"It'll calm down," Chase says.

"He can't tolerate any cardiac arrhythmia," Thirteen says. "Pull back."

"He needs this surgery," Chase says. Another monitor starts to beep.

"Pressure's dropped," Thirteen reports.

"You still with us, Jason," Chase asks.

"Get the curtains," Thirteen says. Taub closes them and they prepare the defibrillator. The family looks on worriedly until the curtains close.

"Charging. Clear!" Chase shouts and then shocks Jason.

"I got a pulse," Thirteen says.

"Yeah, but no surgery today," Taub says.

Meanwhile in the clinic Trzaska walks into a room to find a lanky, young man standing in the room.

"How you doing," Trzaska asks.

"Okay," the patient says.

"Great," Trzaska replies. "I'm doing good, too. I get to knock off an hour early today. Know why? 'Cause I kissed my boss' ass, you ever do that? I think she just said yes because she wants to reinforce that behavior. Wants me to kiss a lot of other people's ass, like she wants me to kiss yours." The patient makes an odd face. "What would you want, a doctor who holds your hand while you die, or a doctor who ignores you while you get better? I guess it would particularly suck to have a doctor who ignores you while you die."

"I should go," the patient says.

"You think it's going to come out on its own," Trzaska asks. "Are we talking bigger than a breadbasket? 'Cause actually, it will come out on its own, which for small stuff is no problem. Gets wrapped up in a nice soft package and plop! Big stuff, you're going to rip something, which speaking medically, is when the fun stops."

"How did you…" the patient starts but Trzaska interrupts.

"You've been here half an hour and haven't sat down, that tells me its location," Trzaska says. "You haven't told me what it is, that tells me it's humiliating. You have a little birdie carved on your arm, that tells me you have a high tolerance for humiliation, so I figure it's not hemorrhoids." He pauses. "I've seen a lot of crazy things in my life. You're not gonna to surprise me."

"It's an MP3 player," the patient says.

Trzaska has to process this for a moment. "Is it…is it because of the size, or the shape, or the pounding bass line?"

"What are we going to do," the patient asks.

Trzaska looks at the clock on the wall. "I'm gonna wait."

"For what," the patient asks.

A few minutes later Trzaska leaves the room and drops the file off at the nurses' station. "Okay, it's noon, I'm off. Would you tell Dr. Cuddy there's a patient in Exam Room 2 that needs her attention? And the RIAA wants her to check for illegal downloads." He chuckles at his own joke; Thirteen runs up to him.

"Jason's not ready for surgery," Thirteen says.

"What'd Foreman say," Trzaska asks. He and Thirteen walk towards the elevators.

"I haven't told him yet," Thirteen says quietly. "Jason crashed during prep. He's also experiencing pain in his fingers. I think some bug may have gotten in the clean room. I think we should double his dosage of GCSF to temporarily boost his blood cell count."

They get on the elevator. "Pain in his fingers…right" Trzaska says as the doors close.

Trzaska and Thirteen reach the hallway outside the clean room.

"Hi again," he says to Mrs. Jankowsky as he enters the prep area.

"He can't go in…" Mrs. Jankowsky says.

"Where's he going," Mr. Jankowsky concernedly asks Thirteen.

Trzaska walks in without all of the prep robes, air, etc. "Hey! How y'all doing? Interesting fact: every seven years it's a whole new you. Inspiring metaphor, huh?"

"Dr. Trzaska, this is a clean room," Chase says.

"Yeah, I read the sign," Trzaska says as he leans his cane against the bed. "But cells of different organs reproduce at different rates." He touches Jason's leg, Jason flinches and makes noises of protest. "So, a new kidney every three years, a new stomach lining every week….this is why colchicine poisoning causes all of these symptoms but not all at once."

"But we went to the pharmacy," Mrs. Jankowsky protests. "We saw the pills!"

"Colchicine does its damage in a very specific order," Trzaska informs. "First of all, there's a pain in the abdomen, the rash, the fever…isn't that what you got first? Then, the kidneys go, which is exactly what happened. Then it screws up your bone marrow, and then…neuropathy. Painful tingling in the fingers and toes. And what do you suppose happens after that?" He rips out some of Jason's hair. His mother looks very upset. "Hair loss. The bad news is: your special boy is doing drugs."

"No, he's not," Mrs. Jankowsky shouts.

"Ecstasy," Trzaska asks.

"No," Mrs. Jankowsky shouts again.

"Twice," Jason admits. "With Dan and Mike."

"D'you know what they cut that stuff with," Trzaska asks. "Apparently colchicine, unless you ingested the colchicine through your contact lens solution, or skin cream, or some other drug you're lying about. I don't know how it happened, I don't care how it happened, it happened. Start Jason on fab fragments, and give him some Tylenol for the hair I pulled out. And get some air in here!" He leaves the room and walks off with Wilson who has since walked up after being paged by Thirteen along with Foreman. "That's the third time I didn't stick to my theory," Trzaska says. "Make a note: I should never doubt myself."

"Duly noted," Wilson replies and smiles at Trzaska. "Feels good doesn't it?"

"Yes it does," Trzaska says smiling back.

Chase and Thirteen share a smile but Chase notices Foreman glaring down the hall at Trzaska.

A short while later Thirteen takes over for Chase who has left. Taub has also shown up and is helping her insert an IV. Foreman is standing outside with the family with his arms crossed overseeing the procedure. "The colchicine interferes with the ability of the heart muscle to contract pumping blood, lowering your blood pressure," Thirteen informs. "The antibodies we're giving you should neutralize the colchicine, allowing your heart to beat at its normal rate."

"When will you know," Jason asks.

"We know now," Thirteen says smiling. She looks up and gives the people outside a thumbs-up. Mrs. Jankowsky hugs her husband, and then hugs Vanessa.

Meanwhile Trzaska is pawing through the hospital pharmacy.

"Big weekend," Wilson asks.

"It's not for me, I got a refill earlier today," Trzaska replies. "I'm fully stocked."

"Cuddy got you doing inventory," Wilson asks.

"Nope, trying to solve that kid's case," Trzaska replies.

"The gout medicine OD," Wilson asks.

"Yeah," Trzaska replies.

"The fact that I know that it's a gout medicine OD would seem to indicate that the case is already solved," Wilson says.

"And you'd be wrong," Trzaska responds.

"What about the fact that the kid is now, I believe the technical term is, not sick," Wilson asks puzzled.

"You know how many forms of colchicine there are on the market," Trzaska asks.

"Stop it, the case is solved," Wilson says.

"Neither do I, but it's a lot," Trzaska says ignoring Wilson's comment. "Pills, powders, liquids, IV fluids…. Somewhere at a party, in his coffee, up his nose, in his ear, this kid had some."

"So, you're not happy with your Ecstasy theory," Wilson asks.

"He said he used it twice," Trzaska says.

"People lie," Wilson responds shrugging his shoulders.

"Yeah, but if you're gonna lie, it's…" Trzaska starts to reply.

"You know what, I'm not interested," Wilson interrupts.

"You're not curious," Trzaska asks. "How were you House's best friend? I assumed you'd be just as obsessive as he was."

"No, because I'm well-adjusted," Wilson replies. He turns to leave but stops and turns back. "Do you know what House's obsession cost him?"

"Well since he's on the run it hasn't cost him anything," Trzaska says snidely.

"Don't," Wilson snaps. "You weren't there!" Wilson walks off, clearly upset.

"Right," Trzaska says and goes back to digging through meds.

Foreman goes looking for Cuddy and finds her in the clinic.

"How's your patient," Cuddy asks.

"All better," Foreman replies angrily.

"Why so angry then," Cuddy asks.

"Trzaska should be fired," Foreman says.

"Excuse me," Cuddy asks. "For what?"

"He undermined my authority, and treated the patient behind my back," Foreman says.

"Was he right," Cuddy asks.

"That's not the point," Foreman says, his voice getting louder. "He got lucky."

"I remember you making that same argument about someone else who used to work here," Cuddy replies with a very serious face.

"He's not House," Foreman says.

"No he's not," Cuddy replies. She pauses for a moment before continuing. "He's what House could have been."

Foreman has a puzzled look on his face. "I don't even know what that means. If he's allowed to challenge me, the rest of the team won't respect me either."

"That's why he's here," Cuddy replies very straightly. "To challenge you. Actually he was brought here to challenge House, but you're House now. Did he come to you with the idea?"

"Yeah but…" Foreman starts.

"Then it's your own fault for not listening," Cuddy says. "The same as if you had gone behind House's back because he refused to listen to you. Which you have done on several occasions. The difference is you were wrong."

An hour later Thirteen and Chase are checking up on Jason.

"Temperature's normal," Thirteen says.

"I want Cousin Sharon there," Jason says to his mother.

"If we invite Sharon, we have to invite all the cousins," Mrs. Jankowsky says.

"So what," Vanessa replies. "My side of the family doesn't need anything."

Jason starts coughing. "Don't suppose I could have some of those cough pills, huh? They're okay, right?"

"Yes, you're doing great," Thirteen says going to grab the pills from a side table.

"You should invite Dr. Trzaska," Chase says looking at Thirteen to see if she gets his joke.

"Will he come," Jason asks.

"Probably, but more importantly he'll send a gift," Chase responds.

Thirteen's gaze meets Chase's and she has a hard time not laughing. "I'll make sure it's a good one." She gives Jason the cough pills.

"There's a letter on the back of these pills," Jason says looking at the pills in his hand.

"Your old pills didn't have a letter on them," Thirteen asks.

"No, round and yellow, but no letter," he says pausing and looking at the doctors.

Thirteen and Chase look at each other. "Well, these will help your cough," she says looking back at Jason. She and Chase leave the room and run into Wilson.

"You seen Adam," Chase asks.

"NO, but last time I saw House he was looking for colchicine in the pharmacy," Wilson says and walks away.

"Did I miss something," Chase asks Thirteen.

"I think we both did," Thirteen replies.

The two doctors head to the pharmacy and find Trzaska sitting on the floor. The pharmacist looks very irritated. "Havin' any luck," Chase asks.

"Not yet," Trzaska replies. "Still looking."

"You were right," Thirteen says leaning over the counter. "Jason's getting better."

"And he said the cough pills we gave him have a letter on them, his old ones didn't," Chase states. "Oh and you prolly want to steer clear of Foreman for a while. He's wicked pissed."

"He's just mad he didn't come up with it," Thirteen says. "He thinks he's House 2.0 and he's not the one who cracked this case. His ego could afford take a bit of a hit."

Trzaska ignores Chase and Thirteen's comments as he stares down at the two pills in his hand both small, round and yellow. One has a letter, the cough medicine, and the other does not, the colchicine. He closes his hands around them and smiles. "Drinks are on me," he says looking up at Chase and Thirteen who are smiling down at him.


	9. No One is Who They Seem Part 1

Disclaimer: House and all respective characters do not belong to me. I am only borrowing them for personal enjoyment.

Also I am not a doctor so I have decided to borrow cases used earlier in the show for medical accuracy. My creativity comes in with building and developing character relationships as well as introducing original characters. Criticism and reviews are most welcome. Hope you enjoy

**A/N: So last time Wilson got a little upset at Trzaska. Seems maybe House's best friend isn't holding up as well as we thought. And what about Trzaska growing as a doctor? He is becoming great just like his teacher, but can he keep his mind together or will he collapse under the weight of his own genius? Stay tuned to see what will happen next.**

* * *

Valerie, a 10-year-old obese girl, is sitting on her bed looking very depressed.

"Valerie! Valerie, come on," Valerie's mother, Denise's voice calls out. "We've gotta go!" She comes into Valerie's room and leans on the doorjamb. "Move it or lose it, sister."

"I don't feel good," Valerie says.

Denise feels her forehead. "Oh, you don't feel warm."

"My stomach hurts," Valerie says.

"Honey, if you don't have a fever…" Denise starts.

"I don't want to go to school, I can do my work at home," Valerie says.

"Valerie, what's wrong," Denise asks.

"Everybody hates me," Valerie says.

"Oh, they don't hate you," Denise says. "They don't even know you because they're too ignorant to try."

"I hate myself," Valerie says.

"Valerie, don't say that," Denise says. "Oh, honey, look at me, look at me. You are a wonderful, beautiful, little girl. Don't let a few bad apples…"

"A few," Denise questions. She starts to cry. "Try my whole class."

Denise sits down on the end of Valerie's bed. "Remember the story where the guy keeps saying that he hates green eggs and ham, and then at the end he realized he really loved them? One day they're gonna realize what a great kid you really are. You've just gotta be like Sam I Am, and don't give up."

"Okay," Valerie says smiling.

Later that day, Valerie is at gym class. She's jumping rope while the rest of the class is watching and laughing at her.

"Come on, Valerie, hurry," one of her classmates calls out.

"That's it, keep going," Mr. Jeffreys her gym teacher encourages. "Good, nice! You're doing great, Valerie." A kid behind Valerie notices that the ground under her is moving and mimics Valerie. "Hey, hey Andrew? You want to spend the rest of class sitting on the bench?"

"No," Andrew answers.

"Keep going, Jess, you've got 40 more seconds," Mr. Jeffreys says looking at his stopwatch.

"My arm hurts," Valerie says.

"Come on, tough it up, you can do it," Mr. Jeffreys says.

"My chest hurts," Valerie complains while she keeps jumping.

"How do you think the ground feels," Andrew says under his breath.

Some of the kids start laughing at Andrew's joke. "Hey, Andrew? Two laps, bye," Mr. Jeffreys says. Andrew takes off running. "Hey, Jess, it's just a stitch, okay? Just keep breathing, you got it."

"I can't," Valerie says slowing down.

"Only 10 more seconds, you got it," Mr. Jeffreys says looking at his stopwatch again. Valerie falls to the ground. "Valerie, Valerie!" He bends down and turns her over on her back. "Valerie!" He leans down and listens for her heart beat. He hears a fast beat and then suddenly it stops. "Oh, my God! Hey, go to the office, get Miss Parsons. Now!" One of the kids runs. Mr. Jeffreys calls 911 on his cell. "I'm on a playground at Finley Elementary. One of my students is having a heart attack. Yeah, she's ten. Don't you think I know that? Just send the damn ambulance!" He starts chest compressions. "Come on, wake up sweetie."

Meanwhile at the hospital Trzaska is leaving Exam Room two. He limps up to Cuddy, who is standing by the clinic desk.

"You ever see an infected pierced scrotum," Trzaska asks smiling.

"Um, no, but I know a few people on whom I'd like to see it happen," Cuddy responds.

Trzaska hands the file he was carrying in and looks at the clock on the wall. "And I'm all caught up," he says smiling at Cuddy. "I'm out of here."

"Don't let them stack up again or you'll be right back down here," Cuddy says as he walks away.

Trzaska stops walking and turns back around to look at Cuddy. "Why do you have to be such a buzz kill?"

"What can I say, it's in my motherly nature," Cuddy says joking with Trzaska.

Chase comes walking through the clinic doors. "Adam! We've got a case."

"Love to stay and chat but duty calls," Trzaska says leaving the clinic with Chase and getting on the elevator.

"What's the case," Trzaska asks.

"Heart attack," Chase replies handing Trzaska a cup of coffee.

"That's not exciting at all," Trzaska says disappointed.

"The patient's ten," Chase says with a smirk on his face.

"I can work with that," Trzaska replies.

A few minutes later, Chase and Trzaska join the rest of the team in the Diagnostics Office.

"Ten year olds do not have heart attacks," Taub says. "It's gotta be a mistake."

"Right, the simplest explanation is she's a forty-year-old lying about her age," Trzaska says taking a seat next to Thirteen. "Maybe she's an actress just trying to hang on." He picks up a copy of the file sitting on the table and starts looking through it.

"I meant, maybe the tests were wrong," Taub clarifies.

"That's what the ER thought," Foreman says pacing in front of the whiteboard. "Three CKMBs were positive, the EKG shows classic signs of ST elevation. It's a heart attack."

"She's morbidly obese," Chase says. "The 'morbid' part of that raises alarms."

"Come on, it takes decades to eat your way into a heart attack," Thirteen says.

"Doesn't take decades to kill yourself," Chase replies. "If I was that fat, I'd be pretty tempted to knock back a bottle of pills."

"It's not a drug overdose," Thirteen says. "The fatigue, muscle pain, and difficulty concentrating have been bothering her for over a year."

"That's because of her depression," Chase says.

"That's what five pediatricians, two nutritionists, and a psychologist said," Foreman states. "The heart attack would seem to indicate that they missed something."

"It's got to be something genetic," Trzaska says.

"What about Metabolic Syndrome X," Thirteen suggests.

"Insulin resistance," Taub asks.

"Syndrome X could cause a stroke, but I don't know about a heart attack," Chase jumps in.

"Could, if her blood pressure was high enough," Trzaska comments.

"Which is likely, considering her weight," Thirteen states.

"It fits the symptoms," Foreman says. "Do a hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp."

Everyone gets up and leaves to go to the patient's room. Taub breaks the silence as they're walking down the hall. "Do all four of us need to be there to get her consent?"

"I guess not," Chase replies. "Someone can get consent while someone else sets the test up."

"Good, I need to take care of something," Taub says and breaks off from the group turning down another hall.

"Guess I'll talk to the mother," Thirteen says.

"And I'll head to the clinic," Trzaska says.

The three step into the elevator. Chase and Thirteen turn to look at Trzaska and seem puzzled as the elevator doors close. "I thought you caught up on your clinic hours," Chase says.

"I did, but Lisa reminded me I have to do that regularly," Trzaska replies. "Trying to get ahead."

"Guess I'll go order the labs then," Chase says as the doors open. He and Thirteen get off while Trzaska stays and lets the doors close on him taking him down to the clinic.

A short while later, Thirteen is in Valerie's room with her and Denise.

"She's diabetic," Denise asks.

"No, but it's similar," Thirteen starts. "MSX patients don't respond normally to insulin, which causes her body to create too much, which causes metabolic abnormalities. We're going to do a test to be sure, but there are certain dangers."

"Is this thing treatable," Denise asks.

"It's controllable through proper diet and exercise," Thirteen says.

"Wait, Valerie already eats right," Denise says. "And she exercises every day!"

"I know you've already seen several nutritionists…" Thirteen starts before Denise interrupts her.

"And we've done everything they recommended," Denise says frustrated.

"I understand, but…" Thirteen starts again.

"Why can't any of you doctors see past her weight," Denise asks. Her frustration clearly showing through. "If diet and exercise are the treatment, then the diagnosis is wrong."

"It might be," Thirteen says. "But the only way we'll know is if you'll let us do this test."

Denise thinks about this and signs the consent form.

Meanwhile Trzaska is in the clinic examining a patient. She's a large Latina.

"It's really bad, especially at night," Maria says. "It's like my heart is on fire, like it's, uh, oh, I don't know, like it's…"

"Burning," Trzaska says rubbing his face.

"Exactly," Maria says.

"Hmm, sounds almost like heartburn," Trzaska says annoyed.

"So, can you give me something," Maria asks.

"Like a thesaurus," Trzaska asks back.

"What," Maria says confused.

"I take it you never mentioned this during any of your prenatal visits," Trzaska says.

"Prenatal? I'm not pregnant," Maria says.

"Sorry, you don't get to make that call unless you have a stethoscope. Union rules," Trzaska says.

"I know when I'm pregnant, all right," Maria says. "I have six kids. That's why my husband had a vasectomy and we use condoms."

"Vasectomies can reverse themselves, condoms break," Trzaska says flatly.

"Okay," Maria says. She hops off the table and gestures to herself. "This is what a woman is supposed to look like. Okay, we're not just skin and bones. We have flesh. We have curves."

"You have little people inside you," Trzaska says definitively. Maria grabs her purse and heads to the door. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I guess I must have just been brainwashed by the media, and all those years of medical training."

"Damn right," Maria says.

"Let's see if I can find some antacids while the nurse gets some blood," Trzaska states.

"Blood, why," Maria questions.

"The heartburn," Trzaska answers smiling. "Gotta make sure it's not spreading."

A short while later, Thirteen and Chase are with Valerie. She's standing in front of a scale.

"I don't want to," Valerie says.

"The test involves some pretty precise measurements," Chase says. "If we don't know exactly how much you weigh, we won't get the right answers."

Thirteen and Chase share a look. She motions for Chase to move over so she can try.

"Tell you a secret," Thirteen says bending down. "When I was your age, I was heavy, too."

"Were you over 100," Valerie asks.

"Way over," Thirteen answers. "The kids at my school used to call me Rosie.

"Rosie," Valerie repeats confused.

"She was a heavy lady from TV," Thirteen explains. "I used to pretend I liked it, but I didn't."

"How come you're not heavy anymore," Valerie asks.

"Ninth grade, I grew five inches, everything kind of evened out," Thirteen says.

"You think that'll happen to me," Valerie asks.

"Of course," Thirteen says smiling. "Your mom's tall, and you are a little short for your age. You'll probably spring right up." Valerie smiles and steps on the scale.

Thirteen and Chase leave a short while later and walk down the hall together.

"You were never a fatty," Chase accuses.

"And you were never sensitive," Thirteen responds. "We needed her to get on the scale. What difference does it make?"

"Obesity isn't something you just grow out of," Chase says.

"Take it you've never seen a baby," Thirteen responds.

"She's not a baby, she's ten," Chase says.

"And you figure making her feel like crap would do her a world of good," Thirteen asks.

"Yeah, if it gets her off the couch," Chase replies.

"I'm sure she's already under enough pressure," Thirteen says.

"Not from mummy," Chase replies.

"Everything in society tells us we have to be thin to be successful," Thirteen says.

"No, society tells you you have to be thin to be attractive," Chase corrects. "And guess what, that's what attractive means: that society likes looking at you."

In another part of the hospital Taub and Rachel are sitting in Taub's car talking.

"What is it Chris," Rachel asks Taub with concern. "You called me and asked me to come all the way out here and you haven't said more than 'hi' since I got here. What's wrong?"

"I don't know how to say this," Taub starts. "I'm…I've been seeing someone else…"

"Well that's no great shocker," Rachel says. "And that doesn't bother me, we're not married anymore."

"I know…" Taub says. "I got…someone else…pregnant…"

"Oh," Rachel says and sits in silence with Taub for a while. "Well that makes what I have to tell you a little easier then. Phil and I are moving in together."

"Oh…" is all Taub can say. They continue to sit in silence.

Meanwhile Trzaska has caught up to Thirteen and Chase. The three of them are in Valerie's room performing the test.

"Increasing glucose to 6.9 milligrams per minute," Chase says.

"Are you okay," Denise asks Valerie.

"I'm thirsty," Valerie says.

"Just a little bit longer and you'll be done," Thirteen says.

"Like Dr. Chase," Trzaska says smiling.

Chase has a surprised look on his face and then grins. "Wanna put some money on it?"

"I said I'm thirsty," Valerie says louder this time.

"Just five more minutes, okay, sweetheart," Thirteen says.

"I'm not your sweetheart, don't call me that," Valerie shouts.

"Valerie, that's not nice," Denise says.

"You're the ones who aren't nice," Valerie accuses.

"Valerie…" her mother starts but is cut off.

"You're not either," Valerie shouts. "I don't want to do this anymore!" She rips off the nasal prongs which are helping her breathe.

"Valerie," Denise shouts. "Valerie, you have to calm down!"

Valerie starts flailing. "Let me go!" She starts screaming.

"She's gotta be getting hypoglycemic," Thirteen says over the screaming.

"What's wrong," Denise asks looking at the doctors.

"Hey, calm down," Chase shouts.

"Let go of me," Valerie shouts. "Get it out of me, you son of a bitch! Bastards!"

Thirteen, Chase, and Trzaska all glare at each other. Trzaska turns and grabs a syringe from a side cart, injecting the contents into Valerie's IV line. Valerie continues shouting. Her voice starts to trail off and she passes out.

"Kids say the darndest things," Trzaska quips.


	10. No One is Who They Seem Part 2

Disclaimer: House and all respective characters do not belong to me. I am only borrowing them for personal enjoyment.

Also I am not a doctor so I have decided to borrow cases used earlier in the show for medical accuracy. My creativity comes in with building and developing character relationships as well as introducing original characters. Criticism and reviews are most welcome. Hope you enjoy

* * *

The team gets Valerie resituated and makes sure her vitals are stable before turning their attention to Denise.

"She's sedated," Chase begins. "Mrs. Franks, don't worry. Hypoglycemia can cause temporary psychosis and it's a common complication during a HEC procedure."

"I never wanted it done in the first place," Denise says.

"We understand you're upset, but…" Trzaska starts.

"You were supposed to be monitoring her condition," Denise says angrily. "But instead you were bickering and placing bets."

"I apologize if we weren't paying full attention to your daughter, but I assure you that…" Thirteen starts trying to diffuse the situation.

"Oh, please," Denise says angrily turning to Thirteen. "Save your pathetic insincerity for your boyfriend."

"Actually…" Trzaska starts.

"You're wrong," Foreman's voice comes from the door. "They didn't screw up."

"Who are you," Denise asks.

"I'm Dr. Foreman, your daughter's attending," Foreman says. "The blood tests showed your daughter wasn't hypoglycemic, which means her psychosis wasn't caused by anything these doctors did."

"So then what was it caused by," Denise asks.

"I have no idea, but it can't be cured by diet or exercise," Foreman says looking at the rest of the team.

Foreman, Chase, Thirteen, and Trzaska head back upstairs to the ddx office. Taub catches up with them in the elevator.

"What else could cause uncontrollable rage in a ten-year-old," Foreman asks.

"Nothing that could also cause a heart attack," Taub says as the elevator opens. The team walks down the hall into the office and Foreman starts to write 'Rage' on the whiteboard.

"A hypercoaguable state could cause a blood clot," Chase says. "Blood clots can cause a heart attack."

"More likely to cause a stroke, not the psychosis," Thirteen says.

"No, you're wrong," Chase says. "If the clot made it to the amygdala area of the brain, it might cause uncontrollable rage."

"Right, because anything's possible, but nothing's going to cause multiple clots in a kid this age," Thirteen says.

"She's fat," Chase points out.

"Obesity doesn't cause blood clots," Thirteen says.

"Extremely obese patients can get a fat embolus," Chase says.

"Right, after they get liposuction which she's clearly never had," Thirteen states.

"How do you know," Chase asks.

"Because we have her medical records," Thirteen says. "And because no plastic surgeon in his right mind is going to give a ten-year-old liposuction!"

"Have you ever met a plastic surgeon who was in their right mind," Chase asks. Everyone shifts their gaze to look at Taub.

"Don't mind me," Taub says. "I'm just sitting right here."

A few seconds of awkward silence pass before Trzaska breaks the silence. "She hasn't had liposuction."

"Thank you," Thirteen says.

"But what about some other ridiculous obesity treatment," Trzaska suggests.

"Like what," Taub asks.

Trzaska shrugs his shoulders.

"Diet pills can cause heart attacks and blood clots," Foreman says.

"Her tox screen was negative," Thirteen states.

"Wouldn't show over-the-counter weight loss drugs," Foreman says.

"Her mother wouldn't give her diet pills," Thirteen says.

"Yeah, she thinks her daughter's perfect just the way she is," Chase says sarcastically.

"She's lying," Foreman says. "Okay, you two heparin and warfarin to prevent further clotting," he says pointing to Taub and Chase. "And you two find those pills," he says to Trzaska and Thirteen.

The team gets up and leaves the office. "Patient tries to off herself and we're supposed to help her," Taub says to nobody in particular.

"Somebody's grumpy," Chase says. "I admit I don't like the fact that she eats herself into oblivion but we should treat her for her suicidal tendencies."

"Just having a bad day," Taub says.

"Hey, a hundred bucks you don't close the deal with Amy by the end of the week," Trzaska says to Chase.

"You're on," Chase says smiling. The four of them get in the elevator. Chase pushes the number for ICU while Trzaska pushes the number for the ground floor.

"Amy, the radiologist," Thirteen asks.

"Yeah, Robert has been trying to hook up with her for a month," Trzaska replies. "She just went through a divorce. I keep telling him it's time to shit or get off the pot."

"Thank you for that visual," Taub says.

The doors open. Chase and Taub get off while Trzaska and Thirteen ride the elevator the rest of the way down.

"You give Chase an ultimatum like that he's going to try extra hard," Thirteen says.

"I know," Trzaska says smiling.

"And today's Thursday," Thirteen says.

"I know," Trzaska replies. "That's the point. With so little time, I've thrown him off his game. He's bound to screw it up."

"Two hundred says he closes it by tonight," Thirteen says smiling.

Trzaska smiles, "You're on."

The elevator doors open and Thirteen and Trzaska walk out. "It's a nice day, let's take my bike," Trzaska says.

"No way," Thirteen says laughing. "I've seen the way you drive that thing. We'll take my car."

A nurse walks up from the clinic and hands Trzaska a chart. He looks it over. "Hmmm…I was wrong."

"About what," Thirteen asks.

"Mrs. Hernendez's pregnancy tests," Trzaska replies.

"Who's Mrs. Hernendez," Thirteen asks confused.

"Either a woman carrying an alien baby or James' newest patient," Trzaska says handing Thirteen the chart. Trzaska pulls his phone out and looks at the clock on it. He looks at the nurse who handed him the chart. "Stacy, call Dr. Wilson, tell him I need a consult on a patient. Then fax Mrs. Hernendez's chart up to his office. Then call Mrs. Hernendez and tell her we need her to come in for some follow up tests. Tell her it's related to her heartburn. I need an ultrasound to confirm the tumor and a biopsy to see if it's cancer. Tell her that as soon as the results come back Dr. Wilson and I will meet with her again. When the results do come back page Dr. Wilson and I to Mrs. Hernendez's room."

"Sure thing, anything else," Stacy asks.

"Just stay beautiful," Trzaska says with a smile. Stacy blushes a little, takes the chart Thirteen hands her and walks away.

"You can't help yourself can you," Thirteen asks.

"I really can't," Trzaska says smiling. "I believe you said you were driving." Thirteen smiles and they leave the hospital and head for Thirteen's car.

Thirteen and Trzaska arrive at Valerie's school. They find out which class is Valerie's and talk to her teacher during lunch. The classroom is empty except for Trzaska, Thirteen, and the teacher Ms. Myers.

"So, you never saw her with any pills," Trzaska asks standing in front of Ms. Myers. "She never mentioned anything?"

"No, of course not," Ms. Myers says.

"Would it be all right if we talked to a couple of her friends," Thirteen asks from next to Trzaska.

"Her friends," Ms. Myers asks puzzling.

"Well, we're not going to interrogate them, we just want to ask if Valerie ever mentioned anything," Trzaska says. "It's pretty important, she's very sick."

"I understand, it's just, well, Valerie really doesn't have any friends," Ms. Myers says.

"Not one," Thirteen asks.

"I've tried to help, make the kids include her more, but kids can be…" Ms. Myers voice trails off.

"Kids," Thirteen says understandably.

"I was going to say jerks," Ms. Myers says. A bell rings. "All the fifth-graders are assigned an eighth-grade buddy. Maybe you could talk to hers."

Meanwhile back at the hospital Wilson finds Cuddy eating lunch in the cafeteria. He sits down with his own tray of food. He doesn't say anything at first.

"How are you Dr. Wilson," Cuddy says attempting to prompt Wilson to talk.

"I'm stunned," Wilson says.

"About," Cuddy asks, her eyebrows wrinkling in confusion.

"I'm sitting face to face with Dr. Frankenstein herself," Wilson replies.

"You lost me," Cuddy states.

"You did something I didn't think could be done," Wilson says. "You took someone with a complete knack for medicine, and taught him expert diagnostic skills."

"What are you…" Cuddy starts.

"I got a call about a consult on a clinic patient," Wilson interrupts. "With very detailed, precise, instructions for diagnosing a possible cancer patient from a happy nurse. Not one that was shouting at me because they couldn't shout at the mean doctor, but a genuinely happy nurse. And get this, you know where he is now? At an elementary school trying to find out why his other patient tried to kill herself."

"So I brought a good doctor into this hospital," Cuddy says confused.

"No, no," Wilson rebuffs. "You brought a caring doctor into this hospital and you're trying to make him into House."

"And your point," Cuddy asks.

"I'm worried," Wilson says. "In every version of Frankenstein I've ever read, the monster eventually goes insane and wants revenge."

Meanwhile, Trzaska and Thirteen have gone to the middle school to talk to Valerie's Eight Grade buddy, Nancy. The teachers arranged an empty classroom for them to talk in. Nancy is sitting in a desk in the front row while Trzaska and Thirteen are standing in front of her.

"All she does during recess is run laps around the playground," Nancy says. "She says she's exercising, but everyone knows it's just because no one wants to play with her. I mean, I'm only her buddy because Ms. Myers assigned her to me. That does not mean I am her friend."

"I'll make sure her doctors are all clear on that," Trzaska says sarcastically.

"Thanks," Nancy genuinely responds, having completely missed Trzaska's sarcasm.

"Has Valerie ever said anything to you about diet pills," Thirteen asks sitting down in a desk next to Nancy.

"Heh, she told you that, too," Nancy asks.

"What do you mean," Trzaska questions, his eyes hungry.

"I totally busted her for taking drugs one day," Nancy says. "She totally lied, said they were diet pills her mom had given her. Come on, get real. No way a girl like that is taking diet pills."

Thirteen and Trzaska share a glance. "Thanks," Thirteen says getting up. She and Trzaska leave the classroom and drive back to the hospital.

Trzaska's pager goes off as Thirteen pulls into the parking space. He looks at it and smiles. "Showtime," he says as he limps next to Thirteen through the doors of the hospital. "I'll meet up with you in a minute, gotta take care of the alien baby."

Thirteen rolls her eyes and waves at Wilson who is heading for the clinic with Maria's file in his hand.

"It's not cancer," Wilson says as Trzaska reaches him.

"How big is it," Trzaska asks.

"That's your question," Wilson asks. "I just said it wasn't cancer."

"I know, that's why my question was how big is it," Trzaska replies. "My first question was 'is it cancer', but since you answered it before I could ask I move on to my second question."

Wilson tilts his head to the side, confused by Trzaska's logic before he catches up to it. "Oh…it's thirty pounds."

"Cool," Trzaska says just before opening the exam room door to find Maria sitting on the table.

Wilson sits on the stool in front of the table while Trzaska leans back against the door and crosses his arms.

"The ultrasound and biopsy confirmed our worry," Wilson says. "The tumor is extremely large, at least thirty pounds."

"Oh, God," Maria replies.

"It's actually a personal record for this clinic," Trzaska blurts out.

Wilson turns and gives Trzaska a 'you're not helping' look before looking back at the patient. "But it's completely benign, there's no sign of cancer at all. I've already spoken with Dr. Bergin, and he's available first thing in the morning."

"For what," Maria asks.

Trzaska and Wilson look a little puzzled at this. "For the surgery," Wilson says.

"But if it's not cancer, it can't kill me, right," Maria asks.

Wilson looks at Trzaska for help but he's not saying anything. "Well…no..."

"I'll have a huge scar," Maria says. "I won't be able to wear a bikini!"

"You wear a bikini now," Trzaska asks.

"Yeah, you got a problem with that," Maria asks.

"Nope, but I've never gone swimming with you," Trzaska replies.

"I knew it," Maria says. "That's what this is all about! You are trying to force me to have cosmetic surgery!"

"Yeah, that's exactly why I planted a thirty pound tumor on your ovary," Trzaska says.

"It's not gonna kill me," Maria says. Wilson and Trzaska share a 'are you hearing what I'm hearing' look. "The only thing surgery is going to do is change the way I look. That is the definition of 'cosmetic surgery'."

"Uh, it would also relieve your heartburn and discomfort," Wilson says.

"Yeah, right. Why give an antacid when you can cut someone up and make them look a little easier on your eyes," Maria says. She hops off the table, grabs her purse, and sort of saunters over to Trzaska. "My husband loves my body. He can't get enough of it." Wilson has a surprised look on his face and can't help but check Maria out. He makes a sour face when he gets a mental picture. "You think he's gonna want to touch me if I look like I've been gutted like a fish?" She leaves, slamming the door behind her.

"That was unexpected," Wilson says.

"Yeah, it was," Trzaska replies.


	11. No One is Who They Seem Part 3

Disclaimer: House and all respective characters do not belong to me. I am only borrowing them for personal enjoyment.

Also I am not a doctor so I have decided to borrow cases used earlier in the show for medical accuracy. My creativity comes in with building and developing character relationships as well as introducing original characters. Criticism and reviews are most welcome. Hope you enjoy

* * *

Meanwhile, upstairs, Thirteen fills the team in on what she and Trzaska found out. Foreman goes to talk with Valerie's mom.

"I didn't give her diet pills, I would never do that," Denise says.

"Right, so it was her imaginary mom," Foreman says.

"She didn't take any pills, the girl's lying," Denise shouts.

"Why would she lie," Foreman questions.

"Because she's another mean little jerk," Denise says.

"Mom," Valerie says from her bed.

"I'm sorry, honey," Denise says calming down.

"Nancy didn't lie," Valerie says. "I did. I took the pills. I told her you gave them to me 'cause I didn't want to get in trouble."

"Where did you get them," Foreman asks.

"I took them. From the store," Valerie answers.

"Why? Why would you do that," Denise questions.

"Because I didn't want to be ugly anymore," Valerie answers.

"Oh, baby. You're not ugly," Denise says.

"Yes, I am," Valerie shouts. "I know you don't think so, but I am! I'm disgusting."

"Valerie, please, don't say that," Denise pleads.

"I just, just wanted to fit in," Valerie says. "You know, have friends? Or at least have one person my age be nice to me." Denise and Valerie hug and are both crying.

"Listen, the pills cause blood clots, heart attacks, and insomnia," Foreman says. "It explains everything. We'll keep her overnight to make sure, but she'll be fine."

"Thank you," Denise says.

Foreman goes back upstairs where the team is still gathered in the Diagnostics Office. Thirteen, Taub, and Trzaska are sitting at the table. Chase is making coffee.

"I can't believe she was that desperate," Thirteen says.

"Yeah, I'm sure that if everyone I knew hated me, couldn't bear to look at me. I wouldn't go so far as to shoplift," Taub says.

"I'm not talking about the shoplifting," Thirteen says.

"I'm sure she didn't even know they were dangerous," Foreman says taking a seat at the other end of the table. "She probably saw them advertised on TV or over the internet."

"Right, so I guess it's the media and pharmaceutical companies' fault now," Chase says before handing Thirteen and Trzaska a cup of coffee each. "Not the fact that she can't stop shoving food down her throat." He grabs his own cup and takes a seat next to Trzaska. "No one forced her to get fat."

"No one forced a cancer patient to get cancer," Thirteen says.

"Give me a break, it's not a disease," Chase says.

"Have you seen the latest research," Foreman asks.

"Yes, I have," Chase responds. "What I haven't seen lately is a kid eating an apple or riding a bike. You Americans can't even compete with the rest of the world in basketball anymore, unless, of course, it's the type you play with a remote control on a big screen TV."

"Right," Taub says taking a sip of his own coffee that had been sitting in front of him.

Foreman's beeper beeps, then Chase's, then Thirteen's, Taub's, and Trzaska's. They set their coffees down and run out the hall down to Valerie's room.

As they get off the elevator, the team can hear Valerie screaming from down the hall. "Oh, my God! Mommy, they hurt so bad!"

Foreman enters first. "What happened?"

"Please help me," Valerie shouts.

"She's bleeding," Denise says.

"From where," Taub asks.

"Oh, my god," Valerie cries. Thirteen lifts the neck of Valerie's gown to reveal open, bleeding lesions on her chest. "Just please stop it, please!"

They sedate Valerie so she doesn't have to be in pain. The team goes back upstairs to talk about the new symptom. Foreman writes 'Skin Necrosis' on the whiteboard.

"Diet pills don't cause skin necrosis," Thirteen says.

"Could be something related to the pills," Taub says.

"Or not," Thirteen states.

"Or both," Trzaska says running his fingers through his goatee. "Diet pills brought her to us, we gave her the sores."

"You think she got a staph infection from something here," Foreman asks.

"No," Trzaska says shaking his head. "What if WE actually gave her the sores, by treating her? Warfarin-induced skin necrosis."

"Highly unlikely," Thirteen says. "We started her on heparin before the warfarin."

"Who gave her the heparin," Trzaska asks looking at everyone.

"I gave warfarin, he gave heparin," Chase says tilting his head toward Taub.

"Sure you didn't both give her warfarin," Trzaska asks.

"Yes," Taub replies.

Foreman looks at Chase. "Did you actually see him prepare and administer the heparin?"

"I was preparing my own dose," Chase says. "I'm pretty sure it was heparin."

"It was heparin," Taub shouts.

"Pretty sure isn't good enough," Foreman states.

"Look I didn't screw up," Taub defends. "There's gotta be some other cause."

"None that I can think of," Foreman says. "Anyone else?" Foreman looks around at the members of the team. Thirteen puts her head down, Trzaska shakes his head no, Chase lowers his head and Taub looks irritated at everyone. "Let's fix the mistake. Give her unfractionated IV heparin and low molecular weight heparin by subcutaneous injection stat."

The team gets up and leaves the office. "Thanks for having my back," Taub says clearly angry.

"Hey I stuck up for you as best I could," Chase replies. "I'm sorry I didn't make sure you had heparin. Forgive me for thinking that you were a big boy."

"That's not the point," Taub says.

"You think you're incapable of making a mistake," Chase asks.

"You have been kind of distracted lately," Thirteen says. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Taub snaps.

"That would be a no," Trzaska replies and pushes the call button on the elevator with his cane.

Taub pauses for a moment. "Rachel's moving in with Phil."

"Oh," Trzaska utters. The others don't say anything.

"I didn't screw up though," Taub says despairingly.

Trzaska nods. "I believe you…I just don't know what else could cause this." Everyone else is silent.

"If you need me I'll be in the lab," Taub says turning around and walking off down another hallway.

Trzaska's pager goes off. He checks it and wrinkles his brow confused.

"Everything okay," Chase asks.

"I'm not sure," Trzaska answers. "I'm being paged to the clinic."

"Go ahead, we can take care of this," Thirteen states.

"Thanks," Trzaska says. The elevator doors open and the three get in. "I'll catch up with you as soon as I figure out what's going on." The doors close.

When they open again Trzaska steps out and heads for the clinic. He opens the door to the clinic and steps in.

"Excuse me, Dr. Trzaska? My wife saw you yesterday, Maria Hernendez?" A man in his early forties says.

"Uh, he's not in today," Trzaska says.

"My wife said he walked with a cane," Mr. Hernendez says.

"He's also got a bit of a drug problem," Trzaska responds. "Sometimes doesn't show up for weeks." He knocks three times on Cuddy's door then walks into her office. "You paged me?"

"No," Cuddy says.

Trzaska has a confused look on his face. "You sure."

"Pretty sure I'd remember paging you," Cuddy says smiling. "You okay?"

"Yeah, fine," Trzaska replies. "I'm gonna go."

Cuddy nods and Trzaska leaves her office. Mr. Hernendez confronts him on the way out.

"What's going on with my wife," Mr. Hernendez asks.

"Even if I was Dr. Trzaska, physician-patient confidentiality protects me from annoying conversations," Trzaska replies.

"But she told me about the tumor," Mr. Hernendez says.

"Yeah? She also tell you why she's refusing to have it removed," Trzaska asks as he opens the door to leave the clinic.

"Dr. Trzaska," a nurse calls from the nurses' station. Trzaska turns back around.

Mr. Hernendez is still following him. "I don't care about a scar. And she can always gain the weight back."

"You want her to regain the weight," Trzaska asks confused.

"Yeah. I mean, only if she wants to," Mr. Hernendez says.

Trzaska stops in mid stride and looks at Mr. Hernendez. "Why," Trzaska asks.

"I've always thought she's looked sexiest when she was pregnant," Mr. Hernendez says. Trzaska looks slightly disturbed. "Something 'bout knowing she's a mother makes me want to…"

"Yeah, tell her that and leave me alone," Trzaska says limping over to the nurses' station.

"Patient for you in exam room one," the nurse says handing Trzaska a file.

"Jennifer, I'm not on clinic duty right now," Trzaska says handing the file back to the nurse.

"She asked for you specifically," Jennifer says handing Trzaska the file again.

Trzaska has a very confused look on his face and opens the chart.

"I did," Mr. Hernendez says. "You gotta talk to her, I couldn't bear it if something happened to her…"

Trzaska is reading instead of paying attention to Mr. Hernendez. "I have no idea who this woman is."

"Sorry," Jennifer replies.

"Dr. Trzaska," Mr. Hernendez says trying to get his attention.

"What, oh…the tumor is benign, nothing's gonna happen," Trzaska says starting to limp toward the exam room. "Except maybe some more heartburn."

"What if it gets even bigger? Or if it changes," Mr. Hernendez asks.

"You know where to find us," Trzaska says. "Building's not going anywhere."

"Tell her it's cancer," Mr. Hernendez says now desperate. Trzaska stops a few feet in front of the exam room. "You obviously don't have a problem with lying."

"Yeah, way to win me over," Trzaska says.

Mr. Hernendez takes out a wallet of pictures. "We have six kids. She can't afford to take a chance."

"You have kids," Trzaska says. "How novel! That changes everything. So if Mommy has heartburn, one of them might catch on fire."

"Please, I don't know what we'd do," Mr. Hernendez begs.

Trzaska takes the pictures and looks at them. "They are cute. Have her come back in."

"What," Mr. Hernendez says.

"Your plight has moved me," Trzaska says. "Tell your wife to come back." He opens the door to exam room one and closes it behind him ending the conversation. Trzaska hasn't noticed the patient yet and looks up to find Heather sitting on the table. Trzaska looks down at the patient file. The name on the file reads 'Tiffany Rogers.' "How is it that the nurses didn't recognize you," Trzaska asks.

"They don't pay attention to faces around here, just names," Heather says. "It's been a while since I've seen you and I missed you terribly."

"I have work to do," Trzaska says sighing and smiling.

"I know," Heather says. "But you can't say no to a person in need." Heather unzips the top she's wearing and exposes her breasts. "It hurts right here," she says grinning slyly.

Trzaska looks to make sure the blinds to the exam room are closed and finds that they are. He smiles and steps toward Heather. "Does it hurt anywhere else?"

"Mmm hmm…" Heather says nodding her head. "Let me show you where." She takes Trzaska's face in her hands and pulls him close, kissing him fiercely.

In another part of the hospital, Foreman is looking for Taub. He finds him in the pathology lab looking through a microscope. Foreman stares at Taub through the glass, but Taub keeps concentrating at his microscope. Foreman opens the door and steps inside the lab.

"Brrrr, guess I better think twice before correcting one of your mistakes again," Foreman says.

Taub continues to look through the microscope. "Correct all you want. Of course, it's a bit more productive if there's an actual mistake."

"Right," Foreman says.

"I gave her the heparin, which means the necrosis is not a reaction to the warfarin, which is probably why she's not responding to your treatment," Taub says finally looking up at Foreman.

"Yet," Foreman says and then pauses. "Okay, if you didn't screw up, then what is it? You don't have an answer."

Taub goes back to looking at his microscope. "Yet."

"When you come up with something, let me know," Foreman says. "I'll be in my office warming up."

Foreman leaves the lab. Taub looks up and stares at Foreman's back as he walks away. "Ass," Taub says.


	12. No One is Who They Seem Part 4

Disclaimer: House and all respective characters do not belong to me. I am only borrowing them for personal enjoyment.

Also I am not a doctor so I have decided to borrow cases used earlier in the show for medical accuracy. My creativity comes in with building and developing character relationships as well as introducing original characters. Criticism and reviews are most welcome. Hope you enjoy

* * *

Back downstairs in the clinic, Trzaska and Heather are getting redressed. Trzaska is tucking his shirt in while Heather zips up her top.

"So you have plans for tonight," Heather asks.

"Yeah, you do too," Trzaska replies.

"Oh yeah," Heather asks.

"Yeah, dinner at Sixes and Sevens tonight," Trzaska says. "Dr. Chase will be there too. He's trying to hook up with Dr. Stevens."

"Sounds like fun," Heather says.

"You have no idea," Trzaska replies smiling.

Heather crosses the room and kisses Trzaska again before he opens the door for her to let her out.

"Thank you Dr. Trzaska," Heather says. "I feel much better now."

Heather walks away, swaying her hips as she walks.

Trzaska smiles and limps toward the nurses' station nearly running into Chase.

"Little distracted are we," Chase asks grinning stupidly. "What are you looking at Adam?" He turns his head to look in the direction Trzaska was. "Oh, I see. Wait, was she? Did you?"

"A gentleman never kisses and tells," Trzaska says handing the file in.

"Are you seriously referring to yourself as a gentleman," Chase asks.

"Yeah, that would be pretty funny wouldn't it," Trzaska asks laughing. He and Chase start walking toward the elevator. "Clinic sex is awesome," Trzaska says smiling.

Chase smiles as well as they stop in front of the elevator. A short while later the elevator dings and the doors open to reveal Wilson. "Foreman's looking for you two," Wilson says. Chase and Trzaska share a glance before stepping into the elevator. The three men ride upstairs and enter the ddx office. Foreman, Taub, and Thirteen are already there.

"Her necrosis is getting worse," Foreman says shaking his head.

"Maybe because we're treating her for the wrong thing," Taub says begrudgingly.

"Have you found the right thing," Foreman asks.

Taub is silent for a moment before answering hesitantly. "No."

"Then we continue the treatment," Foreman says. "And hope it's just taking longer than it should."

"At this point it doesn't matter what caused the necrosis," Wilson says. "If we don't stop it from spreading it will kill her before the end of the day."

"What else can we do," Trzaska asks.

"Get rid of it," Wilson answers. "Remove the dying flesh before it penetrates the abdominal wall."

Everyone looks from Wilson to Foreman. "Do it," Foreman says biting his lip.

"I'll get consent," Trzaska says standing up.

"I'll come with you," Wilson says.

The two leave and head for the elevator.

"You're in a cheery mood," Wilson says. "Volunteering to get consent from a patient. Holds practically no diagnostic relevance."

"Holds absolutely no diagnostic relevance," Trzaska says. "I am in a good mood so I'm willing to take one for the team."

The lift opens; Trzaska and Wilson get on the empty elevator. As the doors close Trzaska speaks.

"I'm sorry for what I said," Trzaska starts. "I'm sure things can't be easy for you."

"I'm fine," Wilson says.

"House is an ass, but he's also your friend," Trzaska says. "I know he is. I've seen the way the two of you act. I've heard from Lisa about the two of you for years. I know House's actions cost him everything. It cost him his very identity, even if he doesn't yet know it himself. And unless I'm mistaken it cost him a friend."

Wilson doesn't say anything. The doors to the elevator open and the two doctors step out and into the hall.

"If you want to talk about it, there's a great bar down the street from my place," Trzaska says.

"Just don't become House," Wilson says. "You're better than that."

Trzaska nods solemnly.

A few minutes later the two arrive in Valerie's room.

"There's still a chance that the heparin treatment could start to take effect," Trzaska says.

"We're gonna wait as long as we can, but if there's no change in the next few hours, we're gonna have to treat the symptoms directly," Wilson says.

"So you can get rid of the sores," Denise asks.

Trzaska nods slightly. "Through surgery. Technically, it's an amputation."

"Amputation," Denise asks. "But the sores are…"

"Warfarin-induced necrosis attacks fatty tissue, mainly in the breasts," Wilson explains.

"Wait, are you talking about cutting off my daughter's breasts," Denise asks. "She's ten years old!"

"A radical mastectomy may be her only chance of survival," Wilson says.

"I'm sorry, but I'm gonna have to ask you to sign this," Trzaska says handing Denise a consent form.

Denise hesitates but then takes the form and signs it. Trzaska nods and he and Wilson leave Valerie's room. As they walk down the hall Trzaska's pager goes off. He pulls it out and looks at it. "Our fun size tumor woman is back," Trzaska says smiling. He and Wilson reach the elevators, Wilson takes an elevator going up and Trzaska takes one going down. A few minutes later he arrives in exam room two where Maria is waiting for him. She's nervously pacing the floor. Trzaska sits down on the exam table and is silent for a moment before he starts talking.

"Men are pigs," Trzaska says.

"You call me in to tell me…" Maria starts.

"I should have realized the vasectomy and condoms was overkill, but this was too obvious," Trzaska says. He holds up Mr. Hernendez's photos. "Cute kids. Love her green eyes. And his baby blues. Of course, since you and your husband have brown eyes…"

"Where'd you get that," Maria asks.

"From the father of three, maximum four of your six children," Trzaska says. "So I'm thinking maybe the reason you don't want surgery is, while your husband may find you attractive no matter what, all the other men you're sleeping with might not be so open-minded. Which brings me back to my original thesis: men are pigs. You got nothing to worry about. You know, pretty much have sex with anyone, fat, skinny, married, single, complete strangers, relatives…"

"You? You're sick," Maria says.

"So are you," Trzaska says. "I'm sure there are websites full of men looking for married women with surgical scars." He hands her back the pictures. "So have the surgery. Please?"

"Okay," Maria says. Trzaska nods and leaves the exam room.

Trzaska goes to the cafeteria to get something to eat. He's sitting alone, in a booth eating a chicken salad sandwich when his phone buzzes.

It's a text from Heather. 'Afraid I may need another treatment soon ;)' it says.

Trzaska smiles and texts back. 'Yeah?' is all he rights. After a few seconds his phone buzzes again.

'What's wrong :(' Heather asks.

'Patient' Trzaska texts back. His phone buzzes again.

'Where r u' Heather asks.

'Cafeteria' Trzaska texts back. He sits staring at his sandwich for a while and then starts bouncing his cane off the floor lost in thought.

A few minutes later Heather is standing in front of him. "How is she?" She sits down across from Trzaska.

"She needs a radical mastectomy," Trzaska says sighing.

"Isn't she just a child," Heather asks.

"Ten," Trzaska answers.

"That could do terrible things to a ten year olds' self-esteem," Heather replies. She reaches across the table and puts her hand on his. "You'll think of something."

"Thanks," Trzaska says looking at Heather. "Gonna go think."

"Do your thing sexy," Heather says remaining at the booth as Trzaska gets up and walks away.

Later, Trzaska is back upstairs pacing the halls. He stops in front of Valerie's room.

Foreman and Chase walk up and stop next to him. All three are looking in at Valerie.

"It's been almost three hours, still no change in her condition," Trzaska says.

"We should get her into surgery," Foreman says.

"What do you think," Chase asks turning his head to look at Trzaska.

"Let's assume that Taub didn't screw up," Trzaska says. "What if it's not the warfarin?"

"It has to be," Chase says. "The sores presented right after we…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, but let's just say it's not," Trzaska says agitated.

"We need to get her into surgery," Foreman states again.

"We can't take back a mastectomy," Chase says. "We need to reconvene so we can think."

"There's no time to think," Trzaska says still agitated. "Just say the first thing that comes to your head."

"She's fat," Chase says.

"Enough already okay," Foreman says irritated. "We've got it, you hate fat people."

"That's not what I meant," Chase says.

"We already considered obesity as a cause," Trzaska says bouncing his cane.

"So did all her other doctors," Foreman says.

"No, what if it's not a cause," Chase suggests. "What if it's a symptom?"

"Okay, so what could cause obesity and skin necrosis," Trzaska asks.

"Ulcers secondary to vasculitis," Foreman throws out.

"No, that's just sores, not obesity," Trzaska says.

"Pyoderma gangrenosum," Chase suggests.

"More sores," Trzaska says. "Okay, let's look at it from the other side. What has obesity as a symptom?"

"Hypothyroidism," Chase suggests unsurely.

"Genetics are more likely," Foreman says. "Her mom's heavy, too."

"She's not just heavy," Trzaska says. "She's tall. We have any history on the dad?"

"Yeah, six foot one," Chase says.

"Kid's short," Trzaska says. "We've got stunted growth, high blood pressure, blood clots, obesity…it's Cushing's," Trzaska says.

"No, necrosis doesn't present in…" Chase starts.

"When I was in med school I had a classmate whose skin started peeling off, Trzaska says. "He had a potbelly and high blood pressure which we all contributed to his hardcore drinking. Turns out he had Cushing's. In rare cases Cushing's can cause hypercalcemia, which can lead to the same skin necrosis as warfarin. It's perfect. It explains everything."

"Except it's not Cushing's," Foreman says. "She's had multiple blood tests and none show abnormal cortisol levels."

"The hypercortisolism could be cyclical," Trzaska says. "We just didn't catch it in the right phase."

"We'll have to do another UFC," Chase says.

"There's no time," Trzaska says frustrated. "We've got less than an hour to make the call."

"If we treat for Cushing's and we're wrong, she's dead," Foreman says.

"If we assume it's not Cushing's, she'll lose her breasts and may still be sick," Chase says.

"What if we do an MRI," Trzaska asks.

"You want to look for hypercortisolism with an MRI," Foreman questions. "Where you going with this?"

"I want to look for what could cause hypercortisolism with an MRI," Trzaska replies and looks at Foreman for approval.

Foreman thinks for a moment and looks at Chase who shrugs his shoulders. "Can't hurt," Chase says.

"Do your MRI," Foreman says. "If it comes up negative we're moving to surgery."

Trzaska nods and he and Chase go down the hall to schedule the MRI. A few moments later they wheel Valerie down to radiology and put her in the MRI machine. Chase and Trzaska go into the control room and start the scan.

"Nothing on the adrenals," Chase says.

"Go back to the pituitary views," Trzaska says bouncing his cane. "Get Amy to agree to dinner tonight?"

"How'd you know," Chase asks.

"Little birdie told me," Trzaska says. "Or Thirteen of them." Chase scoffs. "Think I'd miss this," Trzaska asks. "I've got money riding on this. There's gotta be proof. And I need a witness. Or several."

"Who else is coming," Chase asks.

"The Thirteen little birdies," Trzaska answers. "Heather wanted to tag along. And I'm sure the Thirteen birdies will have a pretty little birdie herself."

"You can come but no interfering," Chase says. "That's insider trad…"

"Wait! Stop," Trzaska says. "There." He points to a black spot on the MRI. "What's that?"

"A tumor," Chase says surprised. "It's Cushing's."

Trzaska calls a nurse to come take Valerie back to her room and then pages Foreman.

Shortly thereafter, Foreman comes in and looks at the tumor on the MRI. He goes up to Valerie's room to talk with her mother. "We found a tumor on her Pituitary Gland," Foreman begins to explain. "The tumor causes Cushing's, Cushing's messes with hormone production. Hormones control everything: growth, weight…"

"Can you fix it," Denise asks.

"She'll need surgery to remove the tumor," Foreman says. "Once it's gone, everything will get normal very fast."

"No mastectomy," Denise asks.

"No," Foreman says.

"Thank God," Denise says.

"The surgery's dangerous," Foreman states. "The pituitary is located between the caverns of the sinuses, basically right between the eyes. The area contains the nerves that control eye movement and the major arteries that feed the brain."

"Oh, my God," Denise says.

"Your surgeon will approach the gland transphenoidally," Foreman explains. While he's talking the surgery takes place effectively allowing Foreman to narrate the procedure. "An incision will be made under the lip in which he'll insert a fiberoptic microscope. Once the tumor's found, he'll cut it into small pieces and remove it from the same hole under the lip. The whole procedure should take about three hours and your daughter should be able to go home in a few days. The sores will go away, as well as her fatigue and her muscle pain. She'll even start losing weight."

Valerie's mom is sitting in the waiting room. Valerie's surgeon approaches Denise and she nervously meets him. He talks to her, and she gives him a hug. They are all smiles.

Later that night, Trzaska pulls up to Sixes and Sevens on his bike. Heather is hugging him tightly on the back of the motorcycle. She gets off and removes her helmet fixing her hair. Trzaska gets off the bike, takes the helmet from Heather and stows it away. Trzaska grabs his Cane and limps with Heather up to the front of the restaurant. "Saw Chase's car back there so he's already here. "Dr. Stevens probably is too." At that moment Trzaska spots Thirteen and a skinny blonde. "Hey Remy," Trzaska says. He and Heather reach them just in front of the door. "Who's your friend," Trzaska asks.

"This is Traci," Thirteen says. "Traci this is Adam and Heather."

"Nice to meet you," Traci says smiling and waving.

"Shall we," Trzaska asks opening the door. Heather walks in first.

Traci walks in next. "Hope you brought cash," Thirteen says as she passes Trzaska. He smiles and walks in last.

The four of them walk in and look around. After a few moments they spot Chase and Amy sitting at a large table. Chase sees Trzaska and waves to him, signaling him over. Trzaska gets Thirteen's attention and they join Chase. "Dr. Stevens, this is Heather, Dr. Trzaska, Dr. Hadley, and…" Chase introduces.

"Traci," Traci says waving.

"Adam," Trzaska says shaking Amy's hand.

"Remy," Thirteen says shaking Amy's hand next.

"Amy," Amy says.

Heather just waves hello.

They all sit down. Chase and Amy on one side, Heather and Thirteen on the other side, and Trzaska and Traci are at either end sitting next to their respective dates placing Chase next to Trzaska with Amy next to Traci.

"Excuse me while I powder my nose," Amy says just before standing up.

"I'll come too," Heather says. "I need to fix my helmet hair." She winks at Trzaska as she stands.

"I could use a touch up," Traci states.

The three girls get up and leave. When they're out of earshot Chase leans over to Trzaska. "Pay up."

"What," Trzaska asks.

"In the bathroom just before you got here," Chase says. "You owe me a hundred bucks."

"I don't believe it," Trzaska says grinning.

Chase smiles and pulls a red thong out of his coat pocket holding it up before he puts it back where he pulled it from. "Why do you think she needed to 'powder her nose'?"

"How would you know what time we would get here," Trzaska asks suspiciously. Chase smiles and looks at Thirteen. Trzaska's mouth falls open. "Traitor," Trzaska says.

"I told you I hoped you brought cash," Thirteen says giggling.

"That's still not proof that you had sex," Trzaska says. "Even if that is her underwear."

Trzaska sees the girls coming back out of the corner of his eye. He, Chase, and Thirteen pretend like they weren't talking about anything. Amy sits down and puts her arm around the back of Chase's chair. Trzaska notices and raises an eyebrow.

Heather leans in and whispers to Trzaska. "Glad we got stuck in that traffic. If we got here any earlier we might have caught them having sex in the bathroom. Makes me hot. We're going to your place after dinner."

Trzaska raises an eyebrow, looks at Chase and then Amy. Amy raises an eyebrow back. "You're such a carpet bagger," Trzaska says leaning in to Chase.

Amy leans in toward Trzaska, "I think you mean carpet muncher," Amy says. "If you want more proof I saved the condom." She smiles at Trzaska. Chase leans back and smiles holding his hand out.

Trzaska reaches into his pocket and pulls out a hundred bucks handing it to Chase. He then looks at Thirteen and hands her two hundred. She takes his money and smiles, tucking it away in her purse. "Y'all are a bunch of cheaters," Trzaska says frowning and crosses his arms. Chase, Thirteen, and Amy burst out in laughter.

"Don't pout," Heather says leaning in. "I'll make it up to you later." She pats his thigh and rubs it moving a little close to his groin.

Trzaska uncrosses his arms and loosens up a little. "No more collaborating on bets," Trzaska says.

Thirteen and Chase nod while still laughing. "Here's to learning a valuable lesson in betting," Chase says raising his glass.

"Here here," Thirteen says giggling.

Everyone clinks glasses together and they all drink.

Back at the hospital, Wilson is sitting at his desk going over treatment protocols for some of his patients. He sighs and looks over at a picture of House and himself at House's wedding. Wilson stares at the photo for a moment before he angrily picks up the photo and throws it against the wall, shattering the frame. Wilson holds his head in his hands and begins to sob.

A few days later Valerie gets wheeled out of the hospital. Foreman sees her by the door, and gives her a hug. Chase, Thirteen, Taub, and Trzaska all say goodbye as well.

A week later Trzaska is in the clinic and walks into exam room two. He sees a much thinner Valerie sitting on the exam table. He hardly recognizes her. "Valerie?"

"Hi," Valerie says and smiles a little nervously.

"Hold on one second," Trzaska says. "I have some friends who will want to see you." He smiles at Valerie and then pulls out his phone. "Hey, need a consult in the clinic. Exam room two. Oh and bring the whole team. Just do it." He hangs up the phone. "You look great," Trzaska says. "I just want the others to know." He leans up against the cabinets near the door so as not to get hit with the door when the others come in.

A few minutes later, someone knocks on exam room two. The door opens revealing Thirteen. She sees Valerie. "Valerie? Is that really you?"

"Yeah, it's me," Valerie says grinning broadly.

Chase, Taub, and Foreman follow Thirteen into the room. "You look fantastic," Chase says smiling.

"She always looked fantastic," Denise says.

"Yeah, she did," Foreman says.

Valerie smiles.


	13. Something's Gotta Go Wrong Part 1

Disclaimer: House and all respective characters do not belong to me. I am only borrowing them for personal enjoyment.

Also I am not a doctor so I have decided to borrow cases used earlier in the show for medical accuracy. My creativity comes in with building and developing character relationships as well as introducing original characters. Criticism and reviews are most welcome. Hope you enjoy.

**A/N: The repercussions of House's actions are still resonating through the hospital. Wilson has been harboring hard feelings the whole time but done a good job hiding it. But in total Wilson style he puts others needs in front of his. Heather and Trzaska's relationship is progressing and things are seemingly quiet at PPTH. But when things are going good, there's nowhere to go but down. As always read and review.**

**Also we have a new character introduced in this chapter. Amelia is played by the lovely Rhona Mitra. Please let me know how you everything and where you would like to see things going.**

* * *

Two average looking black men exit a fancy restaurant in downtown Princeton. A father named Karl and his son Jamaal.

Karl laughs, "I ought to have this framed, my last bill from Princeton."

"And I thought we were celebrating the fact that I actually graduated," Jamaal says.

"I always knew you'd be able to graduate, what I didn't know was whether I would be able to pay for it," Karl says. "Your mom, uh, she'd be so proud of you."

"You always say that," Jamaal states.

"I'm so proud of you," Karl says. "Always was."

"Come on dad you going to cry," Jamaal asks ribbing his father.

Karl laughs, "You want to be embarrassed?" Jamaal shakes his head in mock denial. "You got it." Karl gives his son a big hug. "Look, uh, don't party too hard tonight, your grandmother wants a picture of you getting that sheepskin, and it'd be nice if you didn't look completely hung-over."

"Ooh, no, don't worry, I've had enough alcohol in the past week to last me another four years," Jamaal says.

"Good. I think," Karl says. Jamaal laughs. The two men say goodbye and walk their separate ways.

Later that night, Jamaal is at a party with a bunch of his friends. Loud music is playing in the background and everyone is drinking. Jamaal and some of his friends are having a boat race against some other students.

"12.55!" the kid timing the race shouts.

Jamaal cheers and stands up, slapping hands with the people around him. "You are the man!" He bear hugs a friend, Kevin.

"Tell me something I don't know," Kevin says.

Jamaal is then shocked, and backs away from his friend. "Ow! Ow, OW! Hey that's not funny man."

"What," Kevin asks.

"Yeah right, you shocked me," Jamaal says.

"With what? I got nothing," Kevin says.

Jamaal is shocked again, and this time there is no one around that could have caused it. The people around him start backing away, and looking on in horror.

"Yo dude, check it out," one of the other kids says.

"All right whoever's doing that better cut it out," Jamaal angrily shouts. He is shocked again. "What the hell's going on?"

"Maybe there's a short somewhere, the floor's covered with beer," a blonde girl says.

"No the outlets are GFIs, plus he's got rubber-soled shoes on," an Asian kid says.

Jamaal is shocked again. This time it knocks him to the floor.

"Somebody call 911!" another kid shouts.

Jamaal is writhing on the floor, being shocked over and over.

Several days later in another part of Princeton, in Trzaska's apartment a phone is ringing. It's morning but it's still dark out. He's sleeping in his bed, holding Heather who is spooning him. He stirs a little but doesn't wake. The phone rings again and this time he hears it. "What the hell," he says as he rolls over and looks at his phone. Heather rolls over too, chasing Trzaska and laying her hand on his chest. Trzaska stares at the caller i.d. for a minute trying to focus his eyes. He answers the phone groggily. "Hello." He pauses as the person on the other end of the phone talks. "What?" Trzaska suddenly sits up in bed. "Slow down. Okay. Okay just stay put. I'm coming." Trzaska hangs up the call and gets out of bed. He's wearing nothing but a pair of shorts.

"What's going on," Heather asks sleepily.

"I'm sorry but I have to go," Trzaska says getting in his closet. He comes out a moment later with a suitcase which he throws down on the bed. He crosses the room and grabs socks and underwear out of his drawers, throwing them in his suitcase. He grabs his phone off the nightstand and goes back to the closet. "Hi I need a flight to Chicago please. The next available one. Two hours? Perfect. The name's Trzaska, T-R-Z-A-S-K-A…Adam. Yes. That's fine. I don't care what it costs. Thank you." He hangs up the phone and throws it on the bed. Trzaska grabs some shirts out of the closet and tosses them in his suitcase. Heather gets out of bed and walks into the bathroom. She's only wearing a long t-shirt. Trzaska grabs a set of clothes to wear and sets them to the side on the bed. He checks some pockets in his suitcase. There is already soap, shampoo, and other toiletries there. Trzaska snaps his fingers as he remembers he almost forgot something and limps back to his closet. He grabs a black bag and places it into his suitcase. Satisfied that he has everything he zips the bag up.

By now Heather has come out of the bathroom, more awake then before. She puts her arms around Trzaska who shrugs her off, grabs the clothes he set aside and limps into the bathroom. "I'm sorry but I'm in a hurry," he says turning the shower on.

"Are you okay," she asks concerned.

"I will be when I get to Chicago," he replies over the running water from the shower.

Heather walks into the bathroom and leans on the bathroom door.

"Let me drive you to the airport," she says.

"Thanks," Trzaska replies and splashes water on his face rinsing the soap off.

Later at the hospital, Wilson is checking out Jamaal. Karl is standing off to the side. Jamaal is still being shocked repeatedly. Wilson goes upstairs to the ddx office and starts writing on the whiteboard. "Patient experiences shock-like sensations, as well as headaches, nausea, and drowsiness," Wilson says.

"Shocks," Chase questions.

"Excruciatingly painful shocks," Wilson says. "ER docs referred him to a neurologist, who referred him to five other doctors in the last seven days."

"Shocks could be L'Hermitte's Sign, early symptom of MS," Thirteen says.

"No, MRI showed no white matter lesions, and the shocks aren't accompanied by neck flexing," Wilson says.

"He's a college student," Foreman says. "Nitrous oxide is fun at parties. 'Cause the shocks and drinking 'til you puke every night can cause everything else. Give him some B12."

"Been there done that, also ruled out cancer, MS, pyridoxine toxicity, and all the popular neuropathies," Wilson says.

"Cervical spondylosis," Taub suggests.

"Doesn't explain the low white count," Wilson states.

"He's black, which means he'd have a lower white count," Chase says.

"Not this low," Wilson replies.

"He's a wrestler, probably uses diuretics to cut weight, can also cause low white count," Foreman says.

"Not this low," Wilson repeats.

"Tieshets," Taub suggests.

"No skin lesions," Wilson responds.

"Cervical herpes osteomyelitis," Chase suggests.

"No external outbreak," Wilson says.

The conference phone rings. Foreman pushes a button answering the call. "Hello."

"Boss, it's Trzaska. I'm sorry I'm calling so late in the morning but I'm not going to be in for at least a few days."

"Everything okay," Foreman asks.

"Yeah, little medical emergency," Trzaska says. "Hey Taxi!" he shouts trying to hail a cab. One stops and Trzaska loads his bag in the trunk.

"Is Heather okay," Chase asks.

"I don't know," Trzaska responds. "Haven't seen her since she dropped me off at the airport a couple hours ago."

"Where are you," Foreman asks.

"Chicago, I'll call you when I know something about coming back," Trzaska says.

"Keep in touch," Foreman says and hangs up the phone. "Something's missing."

"There's a lot missing," Taub says. "The only thing we know is he's in Chicago."

"No I was talking about the patient," Foreman says. "Go find out what it is."

Chase, Taub, and Thirteen get up and leave to go to the patient's room.

"Pretty weird phone call huh," Chase comments.

"Hope everything's okay," Taub says.

"Maybe Heather will have an idea," Thirteen suggests. "I'll go talk to her later."

"We're gonna head to the lab and run some tests with the patient's blood," Chase says.

"Fine, I'll get a more detailed history and meet you guys in the lab," Thirteen responds.

A few minutes later Thirteen arrives in Jamaal's room and does a physical on him. Jamaal's father Karl is also there.

"No ideas," Karl asks Thirteen.

"Lots of ideas, too many ideas, that's why so many tests," Thirteen says. "Have you used any recreational drugs?"

Jamaal looks up at Karl. "What? I'm going to get mad at you for getting stoned," Karl asks Jamaal. "Not today. Not here."

"Um, well at Christmas, one of the guys had some Ecstasy," Jamaal says. "It was...ARGH!" He screams as he gets shocked again. "Son of a bitch."

Later down in the lab, Taub and Chase are running various tests.

"ANA is negative for lupus, again," Taub says.

"Foreman wants more information, not the same information done over again," Chase says.

"Find what's missing," Taub mocks. "For all we know the kid is dying, and he's giving us riddles?"

"Did a more detailed history, went back three generations," Thirteen says walking into the lab.

"And," Chase asks.

"His mom died in a car accident, his mom's mom had arthritis, and his mom's mom's dad served in an all-black tank battalion in Gapettion," Thirteen reports.

"Fascinating," Chase says. "If it's not a tumor it has to be MS."

"Wilson already ruled out…" Taub starts.

"MRI can't rule out MS 100% of the time," Chase interrupts.

"MS doesn't explain the low white count," Thirteen says.

"Alcoholism does," Taub says. "On admission his BAC was 2.0, liver enzymes off the chart."

"It was graduation weekend," Thirteen says. "He barely drank in the weeks before that and he didn't drink at all during his wrestling season."

"IF you believe him," Taub says.

"I did a tox screen," Thirteen responds.

"It doesn't matter if she believes him or not," Chase says. "It's already in the chart. We're supposed to find out what's missing."

"I hope Trzaska's having a better time than we are," Thirteen says.

Meanwhile Trzaska is standing at an apartment door knocking. "Amelia it's me. Can you make it to the door?"

"One second," a voice calls from the other side of the door. Trzaska recognizes it as Amelia's.

A short while later the door opens. A slender woman about 5'8" with brown eyes and long dark hair is looking out at Adam. "It's good to see you," Amelia says stepping aside to let Trzaska enter.

He limps in and leans his suitcase against the wall. "I never understood why your apartment opens into the kitchen," Trzaska says looking around. A short black Labrador comes walking up to him. She growls for a second but then sniffs Trzaska and licks his hand. "Hi Ryoko," he says petting her head. Trzaska watches as Ryoko walks over to Amelia and rubs her head against Amelia's leg. She looks at Trzaska and whines.

Amelia looks back at Trzaska after she shuts the door. "That's why I like it. It's odd. It's why I always liked you." She takes a shaky step into the room and holds her hand out to the side to keep from running into anything. She stumbles and almost falls but Trzaska catches her.

"I missed you too," Trzaska says kissing Amelia on top of her head. "Let me help you to the couch." Trzaska puts one of Amelia's arms around him and walks very slowly with her to the living room.

"Whoa, talk about deja vu," Amelia jokes. "Although the last time I remember doing this I was the one helping you."

"Ha ha, aren't we funny today," Trzaska chides. They reach the couch finally and Trzaska helps Amelia sit down. "Be right back." He limps over to his suitcase and opens it. Grabbing the small black bag he packed Trzaska returns to where Amelia is sitting. He sits down on the coffee table and unzips the bag.

"So how are things," Amelia asks as Trzaska pulls out an ophthalmoscope and shines it in Amelia's left eye, then her right.

"Fine," Trzaska replies. "You see the light?"

"I can see, it's just blurry," Amelia answers as Trzaska looks into her eyes.

"Still seeing your P.T.," Amelia asks.

"I'm not sure how much longer after I kicked her out of my bed this morning," Trzaska says. "Your pupils are dilating. How many fingers," he asks holding up two fingers.

"Uh…three," Amelia answers squinting. "You didn't tell her why you had to leave suddenly did you? Adam, when are you going to start letting people back in?"

"Two," Trzaska replies ignoring Amelia's question. "Your eyes suck." He starts examining her legs, feeling her ankle and her calves. "How about moving?"

"I've just felt really weak for the past few days," Amelia answers. "I don't get around that well. Good thing I can work from home. My boss has been real supportive."

"That's cause you're doing him," Trzaska says still feeling her legs. "You been working out much?"

"Hey! I may be a tease, but I'm no slut," Amelia says slapping Trzaska's shoulder. "And I haven't been to the gym in almost a month, deadlines and everything. Why do you ask?"

"You have increased muscle tone for someone who hasn't been to the gym in a month," Trzaska says. He pulls a stethoscope out of his bag and listens to her heart. Amelia fidgets with her hands but remains quiet while he's listening. "Heart sounds good. Take a deep breath." He places the stethoscope on her back listening to her lungs."

"I guess letting you play doctor on me when we were kids paid off huh," Amelia asks. "I feel like we're ten again."

Trzaska smiles, "I'm trying to listen." After a moment he pulls the stethoscope out of his ears. "Any coughing lately?"

"No more than any normal person," Amelia says.

"I'm hearing some noise I shouldn't be hearing," Trzaska states. "Where's your keys? I'm taking you to the hospital."

Amelia looks a little worried at him. "On the bar."

Back at PPTH, Chase, Taub, and Thirteen walk back into the diagnostics office. Foreman is sitting at his desk.

"We went through all the imaging studies, and re-did blood cultures," Taub says.

"And," Foreman asks.

"There's nothing," Taub reports.

"You check the police report," Foreman asks.

"On what," Chase asks.

"On his mom's car accident," Foreman says.

"It was 15 years ago, Jamaal wasn't even in the car," Thirteen says.

"She veered off a straight dry road in broad daylight," Foreman says. "That doesn't seem odd to you?"

"She probably got distracted changing radio stations or something," Taub says.

"That's what the police thought," Foreman says. "But they didn't know that she has a family member who is frequently incapacitated by shock-like sensations."

"Genetic component seems unlikely," Thirteen says.

"Type 2 neurofibromatosis could cause the shocks," Foreman says.

"You knew this was missing," Chase asks.

Foreman shrugs, "I knew something was missing. Maybe this, maybe something else. Get a DNA analysis of the long arm of chromosome 22."

They nod and leave. A short while later Taub and Thirteen arrive in Jamaal's room to get the DNA sample.

"NF2," Taub begins to explain. "It's an inherited disease." Taub sticks a long cotton bud to swab the inside of Jamaal's cheek. "Could cause abnormal growths in the cranial nerves. It would explain the shocks and other symptoms."

"DNA analysis will show whether your son has the specific chromosome mutation which causes the disease," Thirteen informs.

"But if it's inherited, that means someone else in our family would have it," Karls says confused.

"We think your wife may have had it," Taub says.

"No, she never had any sort of health problems," Karl says.

"No odd-looking freckles? Nodules in the iris," Thirteen asks.

"Nothing. I mean, why would you think she was sick," Karl asks.

"We think it may have been what caused her car accident," Thirteen says.

"Wait, wait... what do you mean," Jamaal asks. "My mom's car was hit by a drunk driver."

"That's not what the police report indicated," Taub says.

Karl looks very guilty.

"Well, then you must have gotten the wrong report," Jamaal says.

"No. They didn't.," Karl says sighing. "When you started driving, I umm..."

"Wha... you lied about how mom died," Jamaal asks.

"I figured if her death could somehow mean something to you…" Karl starts to explain.

"How's lying about it mean something," Jamaal interrupts, clearly angry. "How could you use her like that Dad? Her death?"

"I was just trying to protect you," Karl says.

"What else isn't true," Jamaal asks. "She wasn't a teacher? You just wanted me to read?"

"What's that smell," Taub asks.

Thirteen sniffs. "I don't smell..."

Taub pulls down Jamaal's blankets, he's had a bowel movement. "We're going to need a nurse," Taub says.

"What the hell," Jamaal says confused.

"It's ok, we'll take care of it," Thirteen says.

"You didn't feel anything," Karl asks.

"No," Jamaal says.

Taub takes out his pen and pushes the point against Jamaal's big toe. "You feel that?"

"Yeah," Jamaal responds.

"But you didn't feel any of this," Thirteen asks.

"No," Jamaal defends.


	14. Something's Gotta Go Wrong Part 2

Disclaimer: House and all respective characters do not belong to me. I am only borrowing them for personal enjoyment.

Also I am not a doctor so I have decided to borrow cases used earlier in the show for medical accuracy. My creativity comes in with building and developing character relationships as well as introducing original characters. Criticism and reviews are most welcome. Hope you enjoy.

* * *

Back in Chicago, Trzaska and Amelia are sitting in the Emergency Room waiting to be seen. It's been a busy day. A group came in from a bus crash and the waiting room had already been full of patients. Trzaska is bouncing his cane off the floor in boredom.

"Tell me about work," Amelia says. "You never tell me anything."

"I'm a doctor, I treat patients…" Trzaska starts.

"See that's what I'm talking about," Amelia says. "Always deflecting. Tell me about your coworkers. Make any friends?"

"I guess you could say that," Trzaska says smiling. "Where to start? I guess I should start with Taub. Chris Taub is a smart doctor, he used to be a plastic surgeon, but now he works in the diagnostics department."

"Why the change," Amelia asks.

"It's a long story," Trzaska starts. "He has a nasty vice. He sleeps around on his wife."

"Oh," Amelia replies.

"He had an affair with the daughter of one of his partners, they found out about it and he was forced out," Trzaska says.

"Did his wife ever find out," Amelia asks.

"Yeah, he told her actually," Trzaska says. "Even forgave him for it. But things continued to fall apart anyway. They divorced last year."

Amelia was silent for a moment. "Is he happier?"

"I think so," Trzaska replies. "It's hard to say."

"So who else do you work with," Amelia asks. "It's a five man team isn't it?"

"Yeah," Trzaska answers. "There's also Dr. Chase. This Aussie who's been there for years. Actually I think he's been there the longest out of all of us."

"Sounds like you're good friends with him," Amelia says.

"What makes you say that," Trzaska asks smiling and still bouncing his cane.

"Really? I'm your sister. I can tell when you get excited about something. Why would you be excited about Dr. Chase unless you were friends," Amelia comments.

"We are good friends," Trzaska says. "He and I have bonded the most out of everyone. We've had some similar experiences."

"I see," Amelia says. "The two of you hang out much outside of work?"

"Yeah, at least once a week we usually get drinks together," Trzaska says.

"Sounds like a man-date," Amelia says chuckling.

"It would be if it were just the two of us," Trzaska says. "But usually Dr. Hadley comes too."

Amelia begins chuckling.

"What's so funny," Trzaska asks.

"I was just thinking about you having two guys at the same time," Amelia jokes, barely able to hold back her laughter. "Do you pitch or catch?"

"Ha ha," Trzaska says. "Dr. Hadley is a woman actually."

"Ah, I see," Amelia replies.

"Yeah, now you see," Trzaska laughs back.

"So what about Dr. Hadley," Amelia asks probing for more details.

"Thirteen? She's great," Trzaska answers.

"Thirteen," Amelia questions.

"A nickname she got when she started working for House," Trzaska answers. "She's hard to read sometimes, but when you get down to it she's really sweet. She's probably the best of everyone in the department."

"How's that," Amelia asks.

"Everyone in the diagnostics department has been warped," Trzaska says. "They're all broken, including me. We've all got our problems. Thirteen has Huntington's Chorea. She basically has a death sentence. But she continues to live her life and doesn't judge other people."

"So she's remained hopeful even though she has no reason to live," Amelia thinks aloud. "She sounds like a good person. Especially for you."

"Then there's Dr. Foreman," Trzaska says changing the subject. "He's a real hard ass, been there almost as long as Chase has. He's a good doctor. Smart guy, his biggest problem is he's arrogant."

"Tell me about House," Amelia says leaning her head on Trzaska's shoulder as she begins to feel tired. "Isn't he the brilliant doctor that Lisa said you needed to go learn from?"

"House…House is gone," Trzaska says.

"What," Amelia asks picking her head up off Trzaska's shoulder and looking at him.

At that moment one of the doors opens and a large, redheaded nurse walks out. "Amelia Trzaska."

Back at Princeton Plainsburrow.

"Sphincter paralysis plus shocks equals Miller Fisher syndrome," Foreman says.

"Not if you had the stool sample which was negative for botulism," Chase says.

The room is silent for a moment before Foreman breaks the silence.

"He lied to his son about how his mom died," Foreman asks.

"He was just protecting him," Thirteen says.

"You mean manipulating him," Taub says.

"It's what parents do," Thirteen says.

"They lie to us because they love us," Chase says.

"Mom's death is irrelevant," Foreman says. "DNA revealed no NF2 markers or any other inherited disease. Apparently, she really did fall asleep at the wheel." Everyone is quite again. "How bad was the accident in the bed? Are we talking explosive?"

"Umm…the haemacel was negative for blood, and I wouldn't say he actually exploded. More like... gushed," Thirteen says.

"Could be transverse myelitis," Taub says. "Could cause numbness, anal sphincter dysfunction, and the shocks."

"But what caused the transverse myelitis," Thirteen asks.

"We've ruled out cancer and MS," Chase says. "Leaves infection."

"If there's infection there'd be a fever," Thirteen says.

"And his blood and CSF cultures are all negative," Taub says.

"Maybe the infection's gone but the memory remains," Chase says.

"Molecular mimicry," Foreman says nodding his head. "Makes sense. Get an immunoglobulin level and an electrophoresis."

The team gets up and walks out.

A short while later Chase is performing a lumbar puncture on Jamaal.

"An infectious agent's molecular structure can resemble the spinal cords," Taub says. "When the immune system attacks the infection, it ends up attacking the spinal cords as well."

"So he has an infection," Karl asks.

"You just said I don't," Jamaal says.

"If the infection is gone, it goes right on attacking because the spinal cord is still there," Taub says.

"Is there a treatment," Karl asks.

"Depends on what the original infection was," Chase says. "All right, you're done," he tells Jamaal. "You need to lay flat after a lumbar puncture for about an hour."

"I feel like I'm going to throw up," Jamaal says. "Hey dad, can you uh, can you get me a coke please?"

"Yeah, that usually helps," Karl says. Jamaal rolls his eyes.

"You're done," Chase says.

Jamaal rolls over back on to his back.

"If you're nauseous," Taub brings a small metal bowl to put under Jamaal's mouth.

Jamaal waves it away. "No, I'm not nauseous, I just wanted him out of here."

"He's your dad, he's going to be around," Chase says.

"Yeah, I know," Jamaal says. "It's not that it's..."

Chase and Taub reconvene with Foreman in the diagnostics office.

"Are these people completely incapable of telling the truth to each other," Foreman asks.

"He went to Jamaica with his friends," Chase says.

Foreman sighs. "No wonder he lied. Children aren't supposed to have fun."

"One of his friends flew them down," Taub says. "Jamaal's dad has this thing about him accepting stuff from rich friends. Wants him to remember who he is, where he came from."

Thirteen suddenly walks in.

"Where have you been," Foreman asks.

"Making dinner plans," Thirteen responds. "What's up?"

"Taub and Chase have uncovered the shocking fact that the patient has a crappy relationship with his dad," Foreman says. "There's only one reason any kid with a plane flies to Jamaica."

"It wasn't for marijuana," Taub says. "He doesn't do anything but drink."

"He say that to you or his pops," Foreman asks.

"Tox screen was negative for THC," Thirteen says taking a seat.

Foreman thinks for a minute. "Labor Day weekend was over a month ago, even pot would have washed out by now."

"Even if he'd smoked, no way marijuana causes transverse myelitis," Taub says.

"True. But the stuff they put on it does," Foreman says.

"Pesticides," Chase suggests.

"Why would he come clean about the trip but lie about smoking pot," Taub asks.

"Well you wouldn't necessarily have to smoke to get pesticide poisoning," Chase says. "He could have eaten fruit that had been sprayed or been exposed to his skin on a hike."

"Or he could have smoked it," Foreman says. "A lot of it. And then lied about it because that's what this family does. Start him on IV pralidoxime. 2 grams per liter and then 1 gram every eight hours until you see some improvement."

"There's no evidence to support a poisoning diagnosis," Taub says.

"When it's your department, you can make the final diagnosis," Foreman says.

The team members get up and walk out. "Dinner plans," Chase asks.

"Yeah," Thirteen replies.

"With who," Chase asks.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Thirteen says grinning.

Meanwhile in Chicago, Amelia has had all her vitals taken but they are still waiting for a doctor to see them.

"House is gone you said, who's running the department now," Amelia asks.

"Foreman," Trzaska replies very matter of fact.

"That makes sense," Amelia replies. "How's Lisa doing?"

"She hasn't been the same since House left," Trzaska says. "I think she always hoped he would grow up and do the right thing. But the problem was House is self-centered. He doesn't care about anyone but himself."

The door opens and in walks a blonde doctor. "Hi there, I'm Dr. Cameron," she says greeting Trzaska and Amelia. She looks at the chart in her hand. "So you have muscle weakness, double vision, and trouble breathing?"

Trzaska looks at Amelia, "See that's why I hate nurses. They don't listen to anything you say."

"You promised you'd behave," Amelia says looking over at Trzaska.

"I lied," Trzaska responds.

"Okay," Cameron says confused. "Why are you here today?"

"She does have muscle weakness, however she has increased muscle tone, BLURRY vision, and her lungs sound like tissue paper," Trzaska responds.

"I'm sorry," Amelia says apologetically.

"It's okay," Cameron says. "Let's have a look at you." Cameron pulls a light out and shines it in Amelia's eyes checking her pupillary response. "Your pupils respond well. Sit up." Cameron puts her stethoscope in her ears and places the bell on Amelia's back. After a few moments, Cameron pulls out the earpieces and places her stethoscope back around her neck. "How long have you had these symptoms?"

"I've been feeling weak for a few weeks," Amelia replies. "I thought maybe I was getting a cold or something so I just took it easy. But when I woke up this morning I couldn't see."

"At all," Cameron asks.

"Not at first," Amelia replies. "After a few hours my vision came back. But now it's blurry."

"So which hospital do you work at," Cameron asks Trzaska as she makes a few notes on Amelia's chart.

"Me? No I just read a lot on the internet," Trzaska replies sarcastically and starts to bounce his cane.

The noise catches Cameron's attention. "What's your specialty?"

"Blogging," Trzaska replies.

Cameron glares at Trzaska and pauses for a second before turning back to Amelia. "Any previous medical problems," Cameron asks.

"Nope," Amelia responds. "Been healthy all my life."

"Any history of blindness, or muscle weakness in your family," Cameron asks.

"Not that I'm aware of," Amelia replies. "He's the only family I have."

"I'm sorry," Cameron says.

"Don't be," Amelia says smiling at Trzaska who looks irritated. "We've been just fine." Trzaska notices Amelia smiling and he smiles back at her.

"Okay, I think we need to admit you so I'm gonna get some forms and a nurse to put you in a room. Then I'll order up some tests and then I'll be back," Cameron says smiling and leaving the room.

Meanwhile back in Princeton, Chase is sitting in a bar. He pulls his phone out and calls Trzaska. The phone rings several times and then goes to voicemail. "Adam it's Robert. It's not like you to miss date night let alone work. Call me." Chase hangs up and sits there sipping on a beer before he scrolls through his phone again. He dials Thirteen and waits for her to answer.

"Hello," Thirteen answers. The sounds of the dance club she's at are blaring in the background.

"Did you ever talk to Heather today," Chase asks.

"Thirteen suddenly stops sipping her martini and swears, "Shit! I completely forgot."

"It's all right," Chase says. "I'll call her."

"Let me know?" Thirteen asks.

"Yeah," Chase replies. He hangs up and scrolls through his phone again before dialing Heather's number this time. He waits as the phone rings.

A few more hours go by in Chicago before Dr. Cameron comes back into Amelia's room. Cameron finds her asleep while Trzaska is standing in front of the window with Amelia's chart in his hand. He's written symptoms on the window in permanent marker and he's bouncing his cane. "That explains why I can't find Amelia's chart," Cameron says.

"All of her tests came back normal," Trzaska says irritated. "No elevated kidney or liver values, she's not anemic or dehydrated."

"She does have an elevated white count," Cameron says.

"Explained by the lung infection that's been developing over the last week," Trzaska says. "But lung infections don't cause blurry vision."

"We need to get a culture to find out if it's bacterial or fungal," Cameron says.

"It's not fungal," Trzaska replies. "She hasn't been to work in two weeks and her apartment is cleaner than this hospital room. Amelia is a little bit of a clean freak."

"Obsessive Compulsive Disorder could be a symptom of…" Cameron starts.

"She's not OCD, she just likes things to be clean," Trzaska replies. "She's been like that for years."

"Maybe she likes things too clean," Cameron says. "Autoimmune disease could explain…"

"Autoimmune is a lame diagnosis," Trzaska says. "What am I missing," he quietly mumbles to himself.

"Do you work in Princeton," Cameron asks cocking her head to the side.

"Why, looking for a job," Trzaska asks.

"No, I left my job at PPTH," Cameron says. Trzaska stiffens up. He doesn't turn to face her, but Cameron can tell by his posture that she's on to something. "You work for House don't you?"

"Used to, now I work for Foreman," Trzaska answers turning around to face Cameron. "You knew House?"

"I worked for him, but that was a long time ago," Cameron replies and sits down in a chair nearby. "We should do an LP."

"Yeah, and check her for any genetic conditions that could explain her symptoms," Trzaska says.

Cameron nods and gets up leaving the room to get a nurse and the equipment to do an LP.

Back in Princeton Chase is walking out of the bar he was at with a blonde he picked up. The woman is hanging all over him and it's clear how their evening is going to end. Suddenly Chase's phone rings. He pulls it out of his pocket and recognizes it as Heather's number. "Thanks for calling me back," Chase says as he places the phone to his ear. He stops walking and focuses on what Heather is telling him. The blonde woman is kissing Chase's arm, neck, and then cheek in an attempt to get his attention. "Oh, thank…thank you…" Chase hangs up and is lost in thought for a moment before he is brought back to reality by his pickup girlfriend rubbing his crotch.

"Robert I want you now," she moans into his ear. A smile crossed Chase's face and he escorts the woman to his car.

A short while later back in Chicago, Cameron is prepping Amelia for her LP. She couldn't find a nurse who wasn't busy so Trzaska is assisting her. Amelia is curled up on her side with her knees pulled against her chest. Trzaska is facing her and pushing her knees, helping hold her still. Amelia smiles at Trzaska and he smiles back.

"So why is Foreman running the Diagnostics Department," Cameron says.

"Let's just say House did something stupid and he's gone," Trzaska replies. "Foreman's in charge now."

"Did anyone get hurt," Cameron asks.

"Doesn't someone always get hurt around House," Trzaska answers. "No physical injuries though, nothing permanent at least."

"Big pinch," Cameron says and inserts the LP needle in Amelia's back. Amelia winces and closes her eyes while Cameron collects the spinal fluid. Cameron pulls the needle out and wipes the site clean. "Make sure to lie on your back for at least the next hour. Lumbar punctures can give you a wicked headache."

"Thank you Dr. Cameron," Amelia says.

"I'll be honest, the lab is pretty backed up tonight," Cameron says. "It will probably be morning before we get the results back. But I'll be back to check on you in a little while."

Trzaska nods silently.

The next morning back in Princeton, Cuddy and Foreman walk in at the same time.

"How's the patient," Cuddy asks.

"Just got here," Foreman answers as they get in the elevator together.

"As long as he hasn't gotten any worse," Cuddy says. "We're treating him for pesticide poisoning without any proof it was pesticides. I'm going to have a hell of a time explaining that to our lawyer."

"There's nothing to explain if it works," Foreman replies as the elevator opens. They walk into Jamaal's room to find him sitting up in bed guzzling his breakfast.

"Wow," Cuddy says.

Karl chuckles, "He's got his appetite back! Whatever you did is working."

Foreman and Cuddy leave the patient's room and walk down the hall together.

"Since he's healthy everything is going to be forgiven," Foreman says.

"He is not healthy," Cuddy says. "Nausea and diarrhea were not his only symptoms!"

"The shocks have also decreased," Foreman says.

"But not disappeared," Cuddy replies.

"And he's out of the diaper, which is good news for everyone," Foreman responds.

"What about his low white count," Cuddy asks following Foreman into his office.

"With a little time it'll rebound," Foreman says. "Jamaal will be back on his feet and sneaking around behind Pop's back again in no time." The phone in his office starts ringing, Foreman picks it up. "Foreman." He pauses. "Check it again. I'll be right there." He hangs up the receiver.

"What happened," Cuddy asks.

"Jamaal's spiked a fever," Foreman replies irritated.

A few moments later Foreman walks into Jamaal's room.

"He has the chills and his temperature's spiking," Thirteen says. "It's nearly 106."

Jamaal is shaking and sweating all over. Foreman walks over to check Jamaal's pupils and pulse.

"What's that mean" Karl asks. "I mean...what's happening?"

"You want the truth? Or you want me to make something up to protect you," Foreman asks. "We think a drunk driver broke into his room."

"What's happening to my son," Karl asks angrily.

"The truth is...I have no idea," Foreman replies.


	15. Something's Gotta Go Wrong Part 3

Disclaimer: House and all respective characters do not belong to me. I am only borrowing them for personal enjoyment.

Also I am not a doctor so I have decided to borrow cases used earlier in the show for medical accuracy. My creativity comes in with building and developing character relationships as well as introducing original characters. Criticism and reviews are most welcome. Hope you enjoy.

**A/N: Who knew Cameron would be back? Be honest now. She was such a huge character I couldn't leave her gone. Let me know if you like her back or not. As always please R&R.**

* * *

Meanwhile in Chicago, Trzaska is pacing in Amelia's room. She's sitting up in the bed she was admitted in and is eating. Trzaska's breakfast is still sitting on the tray it was brought in on. "Will you just sit down and eat something," Amelia pleads with Trzaska.

"Not hungry," Trzaska replies.

At that moment Cameron walks in. "Glad you have an appetite," she says to Amelia.

"Never had a problem eating," Amelia says smiling and taking another bite of eggs.

"What'd you find out," Trzaska asks nervously.

"We found elevated galactolipids in your CSF," Cameron states. "I spent the last several hours combing through old texts to find something that would explain your other symptoms."

"And," Trzaska asks.

"I think you have Krabbe disease," Cameron says sitting down on the bed next to Amelia.

"So what is that," Amelia asks.

"Krabbe disease is one of several different kinds of leukodystrophies," Cameron begins to explain. "Leukodystrophies are disorders that affect the myelin sheath which protects the nerves in the brain and spinal cord. Krabbe disease is a rare, inherited disorder that effects the CNS. "I've ordered a blood test to check galactosylceramidase levels. If you have Krabbe disease your levels will be low. This causes galactolipids to build up to toxic levels in the myelin."

"The oligodendrocytes start to die and therefor the myelin begins to die," Trzaska fills in with his head down scratching his goatee.

"Yes," Cameron answers.

"Is there a cure," Amelia asks.

"I'm sorry," Cameron replies and shakes her head. "We can manage the symptoms but eventually…"

Amelia drops the fork she is holding and looks over at Trzaska. Her eyes are watery and she looks scared. Trzaska stares back at her, his mind racing in ten thousand directions.

Back at PPTH, Foreman is writing FEVER on the whiteboard and underlining it.

"There's the fever that Thirteen was looking for," Foreman says.

"We knew if it was myelitis there had to be an 'itis', Thirteen says. "This must be the infection that set it off."

"Yeah, except in this universe, effect follows cause," Foreman says.

"Maybe the tests were wrong," Thirteen says.

"No, the tests were right," Foreman says. "Yesterday he had no fever, no infection."

"So he just happened to catch a bug while he was here," Chase asks. "That's all this is?"

"Yeah," Foreman says. "Because his white blood cell count was down he was vulnerable, because it's really down it might kill him. That's ALL this is. Is he still pooping his pants?"

"He just started again," Chase says.

"Again," Foreman asks.

"It stopped when he was getting better," Taub says.

"He was feeling better, he was never getting better," Foreman says.

"So, all we have to answer is what causes a 22-year-old kid to become immuno-compromised with GI involvement AND shocks," Taub says.

"And to stop and start for no apparent reason," Chase says.

"And we need to find an answer before this infection kills him," Thirteen says.

"That would be ideal," Foreman says. "Chase, intravenous broad spectrum antibiotics. Taub get a cervical thoracic and lumbar T2-weighted fast spin echo MRIs, and Thirteen track down Jamaal's friends that went to Jamaica. See if any of them have are getting shocked, the runs, or running a fever."

Everyone gets up and leaves to go run their various errands. A short while later they arrive in Jamaal's room.

"We'd like to talk to some of your friends, see if they have any similar symptoms," Thirteen says.

"The doctors in the ER already asked me that," Karl says.

"We understand, but they didn't have all the information that we have now," Thirteen says.

"What kind of information," Karl asks.

"Would you mind if I spoke with Jamaal alone for a minute," Thirteen asks.

"Is this bad news," Karl asks.

"No. It's just confidential," Thirteen says.

"Why is something suddenly confidential," Karl asks. "I mean, if you know something about my son, I need to know what's going on."

"I'm sorry, I have to insist," Thirteen says.

"I'm his father," Karl states. "And if I'm going to take care of him, I need to know the truth."

"Dad...she wants to know who I went to Jamaica with," Jamaal says.

"You've never been to Jamaica," Karl says.

"Kevin's dad flew a bunch of us down over Labor Day," Jamaal says.

"You told me you had two papers to write," Karl says.

"'Cause I didn't want to come home and work my ass off," Jamaal says. "I wanted an actual break. I shouldn't have lied to you."

"No, what you should have done is come home instead of partying with your rich friends, Karl says.

"I'm sorry, we need those names," Thirteen interrupts.

Back in Chicago Trzaska is outside Amelia's room watching her sleep. "Don't you think that's creepy," Cameron asks.

Trzaska turns around and sees her leaning against a counter a few feet away. "I don't know what to do," he says.

"About what," Cameron asks.

"All of this," Trzaska says. He turns around and leans back against the window he was looking through. He notices a nurse wearing cat ears and whiskers painted on her face. Another is wearing a witch's hat. Trzaska rubs the stubble on his face; his eyes are bloodshot and drooping with fatigue. "What'd the tests say?"

"I'm sorry," Cameron says nodding. "The blood tests confirmed Krabbe disease."

"How long," Trzaska asks.

"It's hard to say," Cameron replies. "The fact that it's hitting her later in life…it makes it hard to predict. But the disease is progressing quickly."

"Is there anything we can do," Trzaska asks.

"We can try a bone marrow transfusion," Cameron says. "They can sometimes be effective in adults."

Trzaska nods, "We have the same blood type."

"You should get tested yourself," Cameron says. "Make sure you don't have it." Trzaska nods. "I'll order the tests to see if your marrow matches," Cameron says and walks away.

Meanwhile Thirteen is at an office talking to Jamaal's friend Kevin. "We all had headaches, nausea, vomiting," Kevin says. "You know, we figured it was connected to the massive amounts of drinking. What, you think what happened to Jamaal had something to do with the trip?"

"Don't know, you haven't had any unexplained pain or strange feelings since you got back," Thirteen asks.

"Nope, except for a little Athlete's foot I'm fine," Kevin says.

"Can I see it," Thirteen asks.

"See what," Teddy questions.

"Your feet," Thirteen replies. "There's a common parasite in Jamaica that can resemble foot fungus."

Kevin shifts around a little uncomfortably. "It's not really my feet. You know, I figured fungus is fungus. It's my groin."

"I'm going to need to take a look at that," Thirteen says.

"Now," Kevin asks.

"Unless you want to come down to the hospital with me," Thirteen says.

"No, no, I can't," Kevin says. "I mean, I just started two days ago, we're right in the middle of a big mer…"

"Then drop your pants," Thirteen interrupts.

Kevin slowly stands up from the chair he was sitting in and drops his pants. Thirteen puts on latex gloves and bends down taking a look. Suddenly, an older man opens the door.

"Stanson I need the…what the hell's going on here," the man asks.

"She's a doctor," Kevin yells uncomfortably.

"I'm a doctor, he has a rash and a friend of his is…" Thirteen starts to explain.

"Right, well, as soon as she's done treating your rash, I need the numbers on deport technology," the older man says.

"Yes sir," Kevin says.

"And err...doctor why don't you leave a card on your way out," the old man says.

Thirteen gapes in shock and sighs.

Later in Chicago Cameron walks into Amelia's room. Amelia is sitting up in bed staring at a place on the wall. Trzaska is sitting in a chair next to the bed holding her hand. "Good news," Cameron says holding Amelia's chart in front of her chest. "You're a ten out of ten match. You can be a donor." Cameron smiles at Amelia and Trzaska.

"And the other test," Trzaska asks.

"What other test," Amelia asks.

"Well since Krabbe disease is genetic we tested your brother to make sure he wasn't carrying it as well," Cameron explains.

"Oh God," Amelia says.

"No no, it's good news," Cameron says wanting to calm Amelia down. "He's negative."

"That's great…" Amelia starts.

"How soon can we do the marrow transplant," Trzaska asks, interrupting Amelia.

"Well we need to get Amelia moved into a clean room and then give her chemo to kill off the marrow she already has…"

"Yeah yeah yeah, how long," Trzaska asks.

"We should be able to do the transplant this evening," Cameron says. "I'll get everything ordered." Cameron turns around to leave.

Amelia smacks Trzaska in the arm, hard. "Can't we take one second to celebrate the fact that you're healthy," Amelia asks.

"OWWWW! I already knew I was healthy," Trzaska replies and grabs his arm. "I'm more concerned with getting you healthy. Jesus that hurt."

"Serves you right for being an ass to Dr. Cameron," Amelia says. "She's been nothing but nice to us. Why don't you do the same."

"You're right," Trzaska says. "I'm sorry."

"Don't tell me. Tell her," Amelia says and crosses her arms.

Some orderlies come in the room along with a nurse. "We're going to take you to start your chemo," the nurse says.

Trzaska squeezes Amelia's hand. "I'll see you when you wake up," Trzaska says.

"I love you baby brother," Amelia says.

"I know," Trzaska replies. "I love you too."

The orderlies wheel Amelia out in her bed leaving Trzaska alone with his thoughts. Cameron walks in a few minutes later. "Let's get you ready," she says handing him some forms.

Trzaska nods. "I'm sorry," he says biting his lip. "I'm sorry for being an ass. I know you're skipping steps for us. And I want to say thank you."

"Are you really sorry or did Amelia tell you to apologize," Cameron asks grinning.

"Isn't it the same thing," Trzaska asks sarcastically.

"With you? I have a feeling it is," Cameron says. "I'll get a new bed in here," she says picking up the forms and tossing Trzaska a hospital gown. Get changed and when I come back I'll do an exam to make sure you're healthy." Cameron turns around and leaves the room. Trzaska nods and changes out of his clothes. A short while later, a nurse and Cameron come back wheeling an empty bed in. "Let's take a look at you," Cameron says. Trzaska hops in the bed leaving his feet dangling off the side. Cameron pulls up a stool and sits down. She checks his reflexes, looks in his eyes, listens to his heart and lungs. "Taking any medications," Cameron asks.

"Five milligrams of hydrocodone every six hours, Trzaska says. "No breathing problems, coughs, fevers, muscle aches, or any other signs of disease in over four months."

"Vicodin," Cameron asks.

"Yeah, just started a few months ago," Trzaska replies. "I was on one hundred milligrams of Tramadol four times a day but it wasn't working anymore. So doctors put me on hydrocodone."

"You mean you put yourself on hydrocodone," Cameron corrects.

"No, if that was what I meant I would have said it," Trzaska says. "I know I look like House, but I'm not him."

Cameron smiles at him. "No you're not. House would never give anyone some of his bone marrow. You look good," she says putting her stethoscope back around her neck. "We'll get you into a clean room and get you prepped for the transplant."

"Knock me out first," Trzaska says.

"What," Cameron asks.

"I don't want to be counting the minutes until this happens," Trzaska states. "Knock me out and don't wake me up until after it's over."

"The risks of anesth…" Cameron starts.

"Please," Trzaska interrupts. "I haven't slept since I got here yesterday."

"Okay," Cameron says walking to the door. "I'll get one of the nurses to put in a catheter and start you on fluids, then I'll put you out."

"Thank you," Trzaska says.

After several minutes, the nurses get Trzaska started on IVs and Cameron returns with a syringe in her hand. "You sure about this," she asks. Trzaska nods his head. Cameron nods back and injects the contents of the syringe into the IV. "You'll be out in a few seconds," Cameron says taking her gloves off.

"Thank you," Trzaska mumbles. His vision gets blurry and his eyes begin to close on their own and before he knows it, he's asleep.

Hours later, Trzaska opens his eyes to find himself still lying in a hospital bed. He looks to his right to see Amelia still sleeping. The door to the room opens and Cameron walks in. "How are you feeling," Cameron asks.

"Not bad," Trzaska says. "A little hungry."

"We can fix that," Cameron says and starts to examine him. "The transplant went well."

Trzaska doesn't say anything.

"If you hold down food you can go home tomorrow. Amelia will need to remain here for the next few weeks and barring any complications should be able to go home then," Cameron says. "Is there someone who can be with her?"

Trzaska shakes his head. "Not right now."

"She doesn't need to be alone," Cameron says.

"I know," Trzaska answers and looks over at Amelia.

"Let me get you something to eat," Cameron says.

Trzaska nods, not taking his eyes off Amelia.


	16. Something's Gotta Go Wrong Part 4

Disclaimer: House and all respective characters do not belong to me. I am only borrowing them for personal enjoyment.

Also I am not a doctor so I have decided to borrow cases used earlier in the show for medical accuracy. My creativity comes in with building and developing character relationships as well as introducing original characters. Criticism and reviews are most welcome. Hope you enjoy.

* * *

The next morning in Princeton, the team is gathered in the Diagnostics Office to discuss the case. Wilson is there.

"Except for one guy with a rash, no one else on the trip has any health issues," Thirteen says.

"What kind of rash," Wilson asks.

"I don't know," Thirteen says. "I took some scrapings; it doesn't appear to be ringworm."

"What did it look like," Foreman asks. "Aside from not ringworm."

"Basically like diaper rash," Thirteen says. "He's been working around the clock, said he hasn't changed his clothes in three days."

"Kaposi's sarcoma could look like diaper rash," Chase says.

"Any discoloration around the edges," Wilson asks.

"Get him in here, we all want to take a look," Foreman says.

"Even if it is Kaposi's it's not related," Taub says. "Our patient doesn't have any skin symptoms and we've already ruled out cancer."

"What are the odds of two friends who've just returned from a trip outside the country coming down with unexplained, but unrelated illnesses," Foreman says. "He needs to come in."

"He won't come," Thirteen says. "Just started a new job after graduation, they're working on some big merger."

"Tell him his friend's life hangs in the balance," Foreman says.

"That's what I told him the first time," Thirteen responds. "Still wound up driving into Manhattan."

"Tell him his life hangs in the balance," Chase says. "Tell him the rash is flesh-eating and the next course on the menu is his frank and beans."

Everyone's pager starts going off. The team gets up and goes downstairs to see what's wrong with Jamaal.

A few minutes later they arrive in Jamaal's room. He's screaming in pain.

"What's wrong," Foreman asks when he arrives.

"His stomach's getting a lot worse," Karl says.

"It's rigid," Chase says while feeling his abdomen. "He's bleeding into his abdomen."

Thirteen rushes in being the last one in the room. "What's going on?"

"We need a surgeon and an OR, stat!" Foreman says.

"On it!" Thirteen picks up the phone by the bedside.

"Try to hang in there, Jamaal," Karl says.

Later while Jamaal is in surgery, Foreman and the rest of the team are looking on from the observation deck.

"The infection caused a perforation in his sigmoid colon," Chase says. "It's repairable."

"But it means the antibiotics aren't working," Taub says.

"Double the dose," Foreman says. "And add tygacil to the list."

"Soon as he's out of surgery," Taub says.

"Where's Kevin," Foreman asks.

"He said he can't leave work," Thirteen responds.

"Yeah, you said that two hours ago," Foreman says.

"I'm not going to lie," Thirteen states.

"You've been wasting 2 hours of the kid's time," Foreman says. "Is that deeply and unforgivably morally wrong? No. Because it's not a waste of his time. Unless we're wrong, unless his condition has got nothing to do with his friend's. You're just afraid of being wrong."

Wilson suddenly walks in. "You don't have to lie to him, kid's on his way here."

"He got off work," Thirteen asks.

"Yeah, by vomiting blood," Wilson replies. "Ambulance is ten minutes out."

Thirteen is standing in the hall waiting for Kevin to come in. Foreman puts a pair of gloves on as the paramedics wheel Kevin in on a gurney.

"You Kevin," Foreman asks.

"What," Kevin asks.

Thirteen stops the paramedics.

"Take off his pants," Foreman says.

Thirteen starts to undo Kevin's pants. "Hey," he says to her.

"Don't talk to her, listen to me," Foreman says.

"He's vomited in excess of three units of blood, he needs to be admitted before…" the paramedic starts.

"This will just take a second," Foreman says grabbing a pair of scissors and cutting up Kevin's pants.

"What are you doing," Kevin asks.

"Exactly how close were you and Jamaal," Foreman asks back.

"Not so close," Kevin responds.

"Spend a lot of time together in Jamaica," Foreman asks. "Share a room?"

"Wait, you don't think...look, we're not gay," Kevin says.

"I don't think you're gay. I think you had sex," Foreman says tearing Kevin's pants open and starts inspecting the rash near Kevin's groin.

"Look we're not gay, we hardly even hung out," Kevin says.

"Right, so you just flew him down to Jamaica because he won a contest," Foreman says.

"No he's in my frat, all right," Kevin says. "Between school and wrestling, and going home every break to work in his father's junkyard, Jamaal didn't have any time to hang out with anybody."

"It's not fungus," Foreman says.

"I already told you that," Thirteen says.

"There are no pustules, it's not Staph..." Foreman starts. He suddenly looks up at Kevin. "His dad's what?"

"His dad owns a scrap metal salvage yard," Kevin says. "Jamaal worked there during breaks."

Foreman looks at Thirteen, drops the scissors he was holding and quickly walks away.

A few minutes later he arrives in the recovery room and pulls the curtain back from around Jamaal's bed. Jamaal is still unconscious; Karl is stroking his son's head.

"You lied," Foreman says looking quite pissed off.

"What are you talking about," Karl asks.

"Oh, yeah, problems with this family, probably need more specifics," Foreman says. "You told us you owned a construction company, not a salvage yard."

"I know the way things work, the better my job, the better my son gets treated," Karl says.

"Right. That's why I'm mad," Foreman says. "'Cause we wasted all that filet mignon on you. Did your kid find anything unusual the last time he worked for you?"

"No," Karl says.

"Braided wire, metal weights, lead canister, maybe just a lid. Probably used it as a door stop or paperweight," Foreman says.

"Why would he want to…" Karl stops midsentence.

"Okay, here it comes," Foreman says.

"I gave him an early graduation gift, old plumb I found," Karl says. "Looks like a fishing weight. Put it on a keychain so he'd always remember where he came from."

"Where's the keychain," Foreman asks.

"I don't know," Karl says. "He never used it, just kept it as a good luck charm."

"Kept it where," Foreman asks.

"I don't know," Karl says. "Why? Why does it matter?"

Foreman walks out, the rest of the team are standing together waiting for him.

"Where are Jamaal's clothes," Foreman asks.

"In the bureau back in his regular room," Thirteen says.

"Get it to radiology," Foreman says looking at Chase and Taub.

"His clothes," Taub asks.

"The bureau," Foreman says. "Don't open it." Chase and Taub rush off, Foreman turns to Thirteen. "You come with me."

A short while later, Thirteen is looking through a window in the Radiology room. Foreman walks in alone with a small box. Chase and Taub carry the bureau in and set it on the floor.

"Set it down there," Foreman says. "Now get out of here, this thing is radioactive." He takes a Geiger counter out of the small box and turns it on. Taub runs out.

"The chances of radiation causing CNS symptoms," Chase says.

The Geiger counter makes a noise immediately after it's turned on. Foreman exchanges a look with Chase. Foreman opens up the first drawer, the noise from the instrument becomes even louder.

"Whoa," Chase says.

Foreman takes out a backpack with a keychain attached to one of the zippers, the Geiger counter indicates that the metal weight attached to the key chain is of radioactive material.

"Call the boys in the lead pajamas," Foreman says. Chase runs out.

The team meets in the Diagnostics Office to discuss the case again.

"The measurements weren't high enough to cause Central Nervous System damage," Taub says.

"It might not have caused nerve damage, but it definitely destroyed his immune system," Chase says.

"And caused tumors," Foreman states.

"We don't know that," Thirteen says. "None of the MRIs showed anything."

"Do a PET scan," Foreman says. "Check his cervical spine. It's not going to be good news."

Back in Chicago, Trzaska is using his cane to help him walk the corridors of the hospital. He found some materials and capped his catheter so he didn't have to drag his IV around. It's dark outside now. Wearing only the hospital gown and a pair of slippers he passes through the cancer ward and notices some of the staff members putting on a Halloween play for the kids. Trzaska stands and watches for a while. No sign of emotion anywhere on his face. Just an observer.

"You should be resting," Cameron's voice calls from the hallway behind him.

"My leg hurt," Trzaska replies turning back to face Cameron. "Needed a little exercise."

"You're so alike," Cameron says as Trzaska gets closer to her.

"Who," Trzaska asks.

"You and House," Cameron states. "And so different, especially where it counts." She has a small twinkle in her eyes. Trzaska has seen that look before; a longing, a memory, something regretful.

"You said you worked for House, did you know Foreman and Chase," Trzaska asks.

"Yes I did," Cameron replies. "We worked together."

"Cameron," Trzaska says to himself thinking aloud. "Allison Cameron?"

"I see my reputation precedes me," Cameron says.

Trzaska nods. "I'm glad I knew you before I knew who you were."

"Why's that," Cameron asks curiously.

"Chase and I have become good friends," Trzaska replies. Cameron gets a look of understanding on her face. "He doesn't have anything bad to say about you. He doesn't really talk about you at all."

"What happened…" Cameron starts but is interrupted by Trzaska.

"No need to explain. It's none of my business," Trzaska says. "You have been very kind to Amelia. More than most doctors I've met. Whatever happened between you and Robert…" he's silent for a moment. "I know you're a good person. Sometimes it just doesn't work out." It's Trzaska's turn now to have that look of regret. Cameron recognizes it but doesn't say anything. She just takes his hand in hers and smiles supportively.

Back at Princeton, Foreman walks into Jamaal's room. Jamaal is unconscious and on oxygen to breathe.

"Mr Drake...it's not good news," Foreman says. "The piece of metal that you gave Jamaal was from an industrial device used to test welds. People aren't supposed to just dump radioactive material..."

"But they do," Karl sighs. "So what now? I mean, what do you do?"

"Anyone who's had contact with the source will have to immediately get treatment for radiation sickness," Foreman says. Kevin carried it on his lap on the flight…"

"So there is a treatment," Karl asks.

"Transfusions," Foreman says. "And then we try to get the fluids and electrolytes balanced. Jamaal... he's had much more exposure. The equivalent of about 70,000 chest X-rays. His ability to create white blood cells has been completely destroyed."

"That's why he...he...can't fight off this infection," Karl asks.

"He's going to need a bone marrow transplant," Foreman says. "And we did a...we did another PET scan. There's a cavernous angioma within his spinal cord, it's a tumor. That's what's been causing the shocks and CNS symptoms."

Karl looks as if he's on the edge of breaking down but only just managing to keep himself together. "He has a tumor inside of his spinal cord?"

"Yeah. The cord is...is made of strands put together," Foreman explains. "Sort of like a kite string. The surgeon should be able to pull the strands apart and excise the tumor, but surgery on someone who is as hemopoetically compromised as your son is...it's extremely risky."

Karl has tears in his eyes, his voice raw from keeping the tears back. "And uh...if you don't do this surgery...I mean..."

"The tumor could cause his breathing to stop," Foreman says. "Possibly his heart as well. There's no way you could have known." Foreman watches Karl trying to deal with his emotions while Thirteen and Chase start moving Jamaal's bed to take him to another room. "You're going to have to come with us; you need to start treatment yourself."

"No, no no no, I can start my treatment later..." Karl says.

"But he can't. He needs to be in a sterile isolation room to prevent further infections," Foreman says.

Back in Chicago, Trzaska is sitting in one of the lobbies next to Cameron. "I won't tell Robert I saw you," Trzaska says.

"What," Cameron says confused by why Trzaska said that.

"He's not over you, it would only agitate him," Trzaska says.

"So you're just going to tell him someone else treated Amelia," Cameron asks.

"I'm not going to tell anyone anything," Trzaska replies. "I'll call Foreman and put in for some time off. It's no one's business why."

"You'll worry them," Cameron says.

"It doesn't matter," Trzaska says looking down and bouncing his cane.

Cameron looks at Trzaska with a sad look on her face. She can tell there's a lot more to him then he's letting on.

"You have trouble trusting people don't you," Cameron asks.

Trzaska doesn't respond.

Back at PPTH, Jamaal is in surgery.

Chase is taking out the last of Jamaal's tumor. "Think that's all of it. Reverse him. How's he doing?"

Taub runs a pair of scissors down Jamaal's foot which moves a little in response. "Looks pretty good down here."

Suddenly alarms start ringing. "His pressure's dropping," a nurse shouts.

"Give him another two units," Chase says.

"I did already," the nurse responds.

"His heart rate's falling, he's hemorrhaging," Taub says.

Meanwhile, Karl is sitting in an armchair in a treatment room. He's wearing a hospital gown and hooked up to an I.V. Wilson walks in with a cup of coffee for Karl and hands it to him. "Thank you," Karl says taking the cup. "So how much longer do you think he'll be in surgery?"

"It's hard to say," Wilson answers.

"Hmm," Karl responds and nods, then starts to laugh. "You know he just started school when Anne died? I was a mess. Still adjusting to being a parent, much less a single parent. You know I used to put cold pancakes in his lunchbox." He chuckles. "I mean, that was the only thing that I could make that he would eat."

"You did okay, he's a good kid," Wilson says.

Chase walks in wearing scrubs.

"Hey. So...how is he," Karl asks nervously.

"We were able to remove the tumor without damaging the spinal cord, but the infection has caused another intestinal perforation," Chase says. "We stopped the bleeding, but his white count keeps falling."

"Okay…um...so what now," Karl asks. "Another drug? Antibiotics? What?" He looks towards Wilson who doesn't answer, then looks back at Chase.

"I'm sorry," Chase says. "The reality is, no matter what we give him, it's unlikely he's going to be able to fight off the infections."

The realization suddenly hits Karl. He looks at Wilson who looks down at the floor, Karl is speechless and he nods slowly as tears spring to his eyes. "Okay, okay."

Foreman is in his office working on discharge summaries. Thirteen walks in. "The father and the friend are responding well to treatment," she says. "Things aren't looking so good for Jamaal." Foreman nods solemnly.

Later, Karl sits down next to Jamaal who's just woken up. "Hey, how're you doing," Karl asks.

"I'm hanging in there," Jamaal says.

Karl sighs, "I'm sorry I lied to you about mom."

"I'm sorry I lied to you too," Jamaal says.

"There was nothing good that came out of her dying," Karl admits.

"I'm not mad," Jamaal says. "I know why you did it, it worked. I never did drink and drive." Karl pats his son awkwardly on the shoulder. "I'm scared, Dad."

"Come on, there's nothing to be scared of," Karl says. "You're going to be just fine."

"Don't play me," Jamaal says. "I want to know the truth."

"I'm telling you the truth," Karl says. "You're going to be fine. I swear."

"I love you, Dad," Jamaal says.

"I love you too," Karl says.

Chase looks on through a window and watches as Karl kisses his son's hand. He's watching father and son, takes his phone out of his pocket, dials Trzaska, and walks away. "Adam, it's Robert again. Heather told me about the phone call you got. Call me back." He hangs up his phone and sighs as he gets on the elevator.


	17. Slipping Part 1

Disclaimer: House and all respective characters do not belong to me. I am only borrowing them for personal enjoyment.

Also I am not a doctor so I have decided to borrow cases used earlier in the show for medical accuracy. My creativity comes in with building and developing character relationships as well as introducing original characters. Criticism and reviews are most welcome. Hope you enjoy.

**A/N: How will the team handle Trzaska's absence? How will Trzaska make things up to Heather? And how will Amelia get the care she needs? We now continue with your regularly scheduled program.**

* * *

A red headed teenage boy and girl are making out on a bed. "What d'you say now," the girl, Erica asks.

"I don't know," Thomas says.

"You said your dad wouldn't be home for an hour," Erica prods.

"I know, but it, it, you know…" Thomas says.

"Don't you love me," Erica asks.

"Of course, you know I…" Thomas answers.

"Come on. Let's do it," Erica suggests.

"All right," Thomas gives in. They start kissing again.

"Where are they," Erica asks between kisses.

"Nightstand," Thomas says smiling.

Erica reaches over and pulls something out of the drawer. "Gentlemen, start your engines, she says waving car keys.

A short while later, Thomas and Erica are speeding down the highway in a red Ferrari. Erica is driving.

"I SO want this car! Woo hoo!" Erica shouts. Thomas and Erica are laughing and shouting. Then Thomas starts to cough. As Erica is recklessly passing a car, she looks in the rearview mirror and sees that it is spattered with blood, which Thomas is coughing up.

"Oh my God, you're bleeding," Erica yells, alarmed.

Thomas puts his hand to his mouth and pulls it back with blood. He turns his head looking back at the road. "Look out!" Erica slams on the brakes, and the Ferrari slides under the trailer of an eighteen wheeler going through an intersection. The car stops on the other side of the road. Thomas and Erica look at each other and sigh since they are okay. Suddenly Erica screams just before a bus crashes into the passenger's side of the car.

Several days later, Thomas is lying in a bed at PPTH. He's pretty bandaged up with a full leg cast on his left leg and a cast on his right arm. Erica and Thomas's dad are standing over him.

"16-year-old MVA victim," Taub says walking into the diagnostics office. Chase, Foreman, and Thirteen are all sitting around the table. "He's been in and out of the hospital for three weeks with internal bleeding, no one can find the cause."

"Hmm, internal bleeding after a car accident?" Chase asks sarcastically.

"It's been three weeks," Taub justifies. "The crash didn't cause the bleed, the bleed caused the crash. She saw his blood, got distracted, and crashed his dad's Ferrari.

"Dad must've loved that," Thirteen says.

"The kid's got hemolytic anemia," Taub says. Everyone looks at Taub.

This statement got Foreman's attention, "Kid? How old?" He takes the chart from Taub.

"He must have inherited it," Chase says getting up and going over to the coffee pot.

"It wasn't inherited," Taub responds. "The problem's outside the red blood cells."

"This is impossible," Foreman says. "A 16-year-old doesn't get hemolytic anemia…"

The door to the diagnostics office opens and Trzaska limps in. "Got a new case," he asks.

"Welcome back," Thirteen says smiling.

"Coffee," Chase asks.

"Yeah, thanks," Trzaska says taking a seat and acting as if he were never gone. "What'd I miss?"

"16-year-old with hemolytic anemia," Taub says.

"And elevated indirect bilirubin, low serum haptoglobin…" Foreman starts.

"He's got meningitis," Trzaska says taking the coffee Chase handed him and taking a sip.

Foreman looks at the chart, "Uh…no."

"Artificial heart valve," Trzaska suggests.

"No," Taub says. Trzaska limps over to where Foreman is sitting and looks over his shoulder at the chart.

"Cool," Trzaska says. "I'll make copies."

Trzaska steals the file from Foreman and goes to make copies. Fifteen minutes later he returns and tosses copies of the file to everyone.

"Kid's gonna be dead in a matter of days if we don't figure out why his red blood cells are disintegrating, so differential diagnosis, people," Foreman says.

"Well, it's not environmental," Chase says after looking through the chart for a few minutes. "Dad hired a company to clean the house, maid washed all the clothes, and bought hypoallergenic sheets and pillows."

"You want us to recheck," Trzaska asks.

"No. If it's environmental he'll get better just from staying here," Foreman says.

"It could be an infection," Taub says.

"No fever, no white count," Thirteen responds.

"Well, he's 99.2," Foreman says.

"Barely above normal," Thirteen says.

"But above," Foreman says. "His body's reacting to something.

"Cancer," Thirteen suggests.

"Sounds good," Foreman says. "I'll talk to Wilson about lymphoma, Chase radioimmunoassay for drugs and ANA for autoimmune, Thirteen culture for infection." The group gets up and leaves. Foreman walks out first heading for Wilson's office. Next Chase, Thirteen, Taub and finally Trzaska walk out heading towards the elevator.

"So Adam where you been all this…" Chase starts but when he turns around to look at Trzaska he notices he's gone. "Where's Adam?"

"He was…right behind us…" Taub says confused and looking around trying to spot Trzaska.

"Bathroom break maybe," Thirteen says. "Come on, we've got work to do." The group heads toward the elevator to go start their appointed tasks.

Meanwhile Trzaska is sneaking through the lobby to the pharmacy. From her office, Cuddy sees him fidgeting impatiently and looking around as he waits at the window in front of the pharmacist.

"Come on, come on, come on, come on…" Trzaska says. The pharmacist hands him a bag of medication. Trzaska reaches his hand in the bag reading each of the scripts and then replacing them in the bag. He pulls one of the bottles back out and opens it popping two vicodin.

Cuddy catches up to him on his way out the clinic doors. "What are you up to," she asks suspiciously.

"Nothing," Trzaska says.

"That's an awful lot of nothing," Cuddy says looking at the bag of meds he's holding.

"Just picking up some meds for a patient in the clinic, and then I needed a refill," he said gesturing with the pill bottle in his pocket. Cuddy and Trzaska stare at each other for a moment. Trzaska starts to nod his head. "Gotta go, duty calls," Trzaska says leaving the pharmacy.

Cuddy shakes her head a little and sighs as she watches Trzaska limp away.

Meanwhile Thirteen is taking a family history from Thomas's dad.

"Drugs could cause this," the father asks.

"Cocaine and meth are very hard on the blood system," Thirteen explains. "Has he had any erratic behavior?"

"No, but…" he looks over to where Erica is sitting by herself. "She was in rehab in the 9th grade. She's supposedly clean now, but…"

"She obviously cares for him," Thirteen says.

"Yeah, what she cared about was the car," Thomas's dad says. "Anniversary present from my wife. We drove it up north to watch the leaves change. She was dead a year later. Cancer."

"I'm sorry. Mr. Schafer, we're going to test Thomas for drugs," Thirteen says.

While Thirteen is interviewing Thomas's dad, Chase is with Thomas.

"I don't do drugs," Thomas says.

"It's not that we don't trust you, but…" Chase pulls one of Thomas's hairs with tweezers.

Chase is in the lab testing the hair while Thirteen is talking to Thomas's father.

"His hair will tell us any drugs he's taken in the past sixty days," Thirteen says. "It's kind of like rings on a tree."

"Negative," Chase says to Taub while looking at a computer screen.

"Have you been sick," Thirteen asks the father.

"No, nothing," Mr. Shafer says.

"Have you been out of the country," Thirteen asks.

"We went to China, but we got all of our shots before we left," he says.

Taub starts scanning Thomas.

"It could be an infection," Thirteen explains. "We're going to give him a gallium scan just to be safe. We inject a radioactive isotope into his bloodstream, and we check to see if there's inflammation anywhere in the body."

"Has he ever complained of any joint pain," Thirteen asks. "Sensitivity to light, rashes…"

"No, no, nothing," his father says.

"Any relatives ever been diagnosed with lupus," Thirteen asks.

"I don't even know what that is," Mr. Shafer says confused.

"In simple terms, the body becomes allergic to itself," Thirteen says. "The immune system attacks healthy cells in the circulatory system and destroys them."

"Would it be treatable," Mr. Shafer asks.

"It can be manageable," Thirteen states.

In the lab, Chase and Taub are running more tests.

"We can test for the antibodies," Thirteen explains. "95% of patients with lupus test positive for ANA."

"Not cloudy. Negative," Taub says.

"What about bruising," Thirteen asks. "He ever complain about tenderness under his arms or his groin?"

"I'm not sure he'd tell me if he did," Thomas's dad says. "I guess I really don't know what's going on in his life."

"He's a teenager," Thirteen says and then pauses while she thinks. "What type of cancer did your wife have?"

"Pancreatic," Mr. Shafer says.

"It's his lymph nodes we're concerned about," Thirteen says. "We're going to do a biopsy to check for lymphoma."

Thomas is back in his room and Wilson is injecting lidocaine under Thomas's arm.

"Okay, you feel this," Wilson asks.

"No," Thomas says seeming a little surprised.

"Good," Wilson says and begins to cut into his arm.

"I have cancer, don't I," Thomas asks while staring at the ceiling.

"We're just testing," Wilson says.

"That's what they told my mom," Thomas says very matter of fact.

Trzaska opens the door to his apartment and closes it. Seconds later, a black Labrador retriever runs up to him, stopping in front of him and growling for a second. "Good girl Ryoko," he says. Ryoko stops growling and walks over to Trzaska, rubbing her face on his good leg and sniffing him. He leans down to pet her. "Lucy I'm home!" He calls out to his apartment taking his leather jacket off.

"I'm in the bathroom," Amelia's voice calls out through a door nearby. Trzaska limps into the kitchen and sets the bag of meds he picked up from the pharmacy down on the bar. Opening the bag Traska begins popping the lids of the scripts, taking out the appropriate number of pills. He leans his cane against the bar and limps into the kitchen filling a glass of water.

A moment later Amelia slowly makes her way into the kitchen, not getting around much better than Trzaska. She uses anything near her to help support her. "Come home to make me lunch," she asks teasing him.

"Refill from the pharmacy," he says holding out the handful of pills and the glass of water. "Courtesy of Dr. Cameron." He watches as Amelia shakily pops the pills he handed her and washes them down with water. "And yes I might be here to make you something. What'll it be?"

"How about some soup," she asks wrapping her arms around herself.

"Are you cold," Trzaska asks putting his hand to Amelia's forehead.

"A little," Amelia replies shivering despite the sweater she's wearing.

"You're burning up," Trzaska says. His tone worried. "Let me get you into bed and then I'll get started on your soup." He puts Amelia's arm around his back and together they shuffle to his bedroom.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to this," Amelia says chuckling.

"You won't have to," Trzaska says trying to sound optimistic. The truth was, Amelia had never really rebounded after having the bone marrow transplant. She only continued to deteriorate and it scared Trzaska to death. But he did a good job of putting on a brave face when he was around her. "I'll call Dr. Cameron while I make your soup," he said sitting her down in his bed. Trzaska slipped off the tennis shoes Amelia was wearing and smiled as he looked at the pajama pants she had on. They were blue with snowflakes and snowmen on them. "I remember the year I gave those to you," he said swinging Amelia's feet into the bed and helping her pull the blankets up over her body.

"Oh yeah? When," Amelia asked daring him to tell, testing his memory.

"The Christmas after you graduated from law school," Trzaska says sticking his tongue out at her. "They were to be your lazy pants."

"And so they are," Amelia said smiling.

"What will it be," Trzaska asks.

"Minestrone please," Amelia answers. Trzaska nods and leaves the room to prepare the soup.


	18. Slipping Part 2

Disclaimer: House and all respective characters do not belong to me. I am only borrowing them for personal enjoyment.

Also I am not a doctor so I have decided to borrow cases used earlier in the show for medical accuracy. My creativity comes in with building and developing character relationships as well as introducing original characters. Criticism and reviews are most welcome. Hope you enjoy.

* * *

Back at PPTH in one of the labs, Wilson is looking at the lymph biopsy through a microscope.

"Definitely not cancer," Wilson says to himself.

Later the team reconvenes outside Thomas's room, Trzaska is back this time and looks exhausted.

"Nothing," Foreman asks.

"Nothing," Thirteen says.

"Negative for drugs. ANA was negative, gallium scan was clear…" Chase says.

"Where's his hematocrit," Trzaska asks.

"Thirteen," Taub says.

"Drops any lower he's not going to have any red blood cells to bring oxygen to his body," Trzaska says. While he's saying this, Trzaska grimaces and rubs his face with his hand. "He'll suffocate with his lungs working perfectly."

"You okay," Foreman asks. Trzaska nods slightly.

Thomas starts yelling from his room. "Excuse me, someone? Help, please?"

The team runs into the room. Trzaska stays behind in the hall. No one notices. "Polite for a dying kid," he says to himself and starts to limp off.

"There's something in my eye, up top," Thomas says as the team walks in.

"Which eye," Chase asks.

Thomas points to the left one, "This one. What's happening?"

"It's all right. Just, look down for me," Chase says. He looks into his eye with a pen light. Thomas's vision is getting dimmer and dimmer. "It's clear. There's nothing in it."

"It's getting worse," Thomas says.

"Is it fuzzy, or…" Taub asks.

"No! It's dark," Thomas says. "I can't see!"

Chase gets an ophthalmoscope and examines Thomas's eye. He finds a clot in it.

A short while later, Taub, Thirteen, Chase, and Foreman are walking into the diagnostics office.

"It's a retinal clot in 'is left eye," Chase says.

"Coumadin would dissolve the clot, fix his eyesight," Taub says.

"You can't use blood thinners, he's got internal bleeding," Thirteen says. "Fix the eye, you kill everything else."

"Surgery's out for the same reason," Foreman says.

"We have two hours to figure this out," Chase states. "Either we restore the blood flow or he loses the eye."

Trzaska is sitting at the table with a medical text open in front of him. "Forget the eye," Trzaska says scratching his goatee. "The clot tells us something. It could help us figure out what he has, which could mean he gets to live." The four doctors are all staring at Trzaska and then trying to think of something to explain what's going on. "How does internal bleeding suddenly start clotting," Trzaska asks to no one in particular as he stares at a spot on the wall in front of him.

"It makes no sense, they're opposing processes," Chase says. At this moment Wilson walks in.

"It can happen in lupus," Thirteen says. "Increased platelet count can cause blood clots."

"ANA was negative. It's not lupus," Wilson says.

"True," Trzaska says and pauses for a moment with a look of contemplation on his face. "What are you doing here? I thought we ruled out cancer."

"I was lonely," Wilson says.

"Well, go see Lisa. She needs a friend," Trzaska says looking back at the textbook in front of him trying to act busy. "If it's not Lupus what else…"

"That's funny, she said you might need one," Wilson says interrupting Trzaska.

"I'm fine," Trzaska says looking back up at Wilson.

"What's going on," Thirteen asks looking back and forth from Trzaska to Wilson.

"That's what I want to know," Wilson says standing still and crossing his arms. "Cuddy says she ran into you in the clinic, picking up a whole bag full of meds."

"They were for a patient," Trzaska says, his voice getting a little high with irritation.

"Where are the pills now," Wilson asks still unconvinced.

"With the patient," Trzaska says with a 'duh' look on his face.

"Does your leg hurt," Chase asks.

"It always hurts," Trzaska says looking over at Chase. "But no more than usual." Everyone stares at Trzaska in silence. "Am I the only one who's concerned about our patient?"

"Most likely candidate for throwing a clot is infection or cancer," Chase says.

"Checked the biopsy twice, it's not cancer," Wilson says shaking his head.

"It's not an infection," Foreman states. "Gallium scan didn't reveal anything."

"Cardiac infection could hide from the Gallium scan," Trzaska says rubbing his forehead.

"Makes sense," Thirteen says. "Clot slips off, travels through the artery, and gets backed up in the eye."

Everyone looks over at Foreman who considers the new information for a moment. "Echocardiogram for the heart and IV antibiotics for the infection." The team turns and starts to walk out while Foreman crosses the room heading for his office. Trzaska gets up from the table and starts to follow the team out of the office.

"Ah, I need a consult," Wilson says looking at Foreman. "Mind if I borrow Trzaska for a minute?"

"Go ahead," Foreman says as he opens the door into his office.

Trzaska sighs as he limps out behind Wilson and follows him to his office. Wilson shuts the door behind them and crosses his arms again. Trzaska doesn't like the way Wilson is looking at him. "Am I going to get a spanking," he says sarcastically. "Be gentle, I still have bruises from the last one."

"What's going on," Wilson flatly asks. "You disappear for almost a month with barely even a phone call to your boss. No reason why, no phone call to Cuddy. Not even Chase or Heather knew why you were gone. Which by the way, I'm supposed to tell you she's mad at you." Wilson stands staring at Trzaska who stares right back without saying anything. "So?"

"So," Trzaska repeats back to Wilson.

"We're all worried about you," Wilson says. "This isn't like you. What's going on?"

"Nothing," Trzaska says rolling his eyes and shrugging his shoulders. "Had some business to take care of in Chicago, now I'm back. By the way, thanks for the message. I'll be sure to not return it as soon as possible," he says as he limps forward and tries to open the door.

Wilson leans back into the door, shutting it and stands against it. "What's gotten into you? What are you hiding from us?"

Trzaska rubs his hand over his forehead and next rubs his eyes. "Okay, you got me. I'm having gender reassignment, thought I'd look better with Double D cups."

"Fine, don't tell me," Wilson says. "But you need to tell someone." Wilson walks over to his desk no longer impeding Trzaska's escape. "And get some flowers and tell Heather you're sorry. Whatever is going on, it's no reason for you to be an ass."

Trzaska considers this for a second then opens the door and leaves without saying a word.

Meanwhile in Thomas's room, Chase is doing the echocardiogram. He looks at Thomas's tray of untouched food. "Not a fan of the stroganoff?"

"I'm not hungry," Thomas says.

"The antibiotics can cause nausea," Chase says understandingly.

"So can the food," Thomas replies. "Shouldn't you be looking at my eye?"

"The blood clot isn't life-threatening. We're focusing on figuring out the cause of your problems," Chase states.

"So the blindness…it will be permanent, won't it," Thomas asks. Chase nods.

At that moment Trzaska walks in. He walks over next to Chase and looks at the screen watching the echo. He doesn't say a word.

"Okay," Chase says pulling the wand off Thomas's chest and handing him a towel to wipe himself with. "We're going to talk about your echo and then we'll be back," Chase says smiling and pushing the machine against the wall. He and Trzaska leave Thomas's room heading for the office.

"I'm fine," Trzaska says randomly.

"I know," Chase says. "You're a big boy. If you need help I figure you'll ask for it."

"Thanks," Trzaska says. "Thanks for the space I mean."

"No worries," Chase says. "You talked to Heather?"

"No," Trzaska responds.

"You should," Chase states. "She's worried about you. Can't say I blame her. You kick her out of bed after getting a phone call and then you're gone for three weeks without a word. She thinks you're breaking up with her."

Trzaska doesn't say anything as he and Chase get on the elevator. Chase looks at Trzaska for a moment before deciding to change the subject having made his point. "Kid's echo was normal; no sign of any vegetation on 'is heart valves. And the antibiotics aren't doing anything."

"So, double the dosage," Trzaska says as the elevator doors open on their floor and they step out.

"Seventy milligrams," Chase asks. "That'll box his kidneys for sure!"

"Nope, wait, to hell with the kid. Save the kidney. The guy we transplant it into will be grateful," Trzaska says.

"Someone's cranky," Chase says.

Trzaska stops and rubs his eyes. "I'm just tired."

Chase notices and walks back to where Trzaska is standing. "I have an idea for his eye," Chase says grinning from the thought he just had.

"Nothing we can do about his eye," Trzaska says.

"He's got a clot in his retinal…" Chase starts.

"Yeah, I got the memo," Trzaska says.

"If we remove some of the liquid from the eye itself, the Vitreous humor, it might make some extra room around the retinal artery," Chase says.

"If the artery expands, the clot might move out on its own," Trzaska says. "Why didn't I think of that?" Trzaska leans against the wall, looking very tired indeed and rubbing his leg. "Go tell Foreman, I'll catch up."

Chase claps Trzaska on his shoulder and leaves to go get Foreman's permission.

Twenty minutes later, Chase is in an OR working on Thomas's eye. Using a robot, Chase sticks a needle into it.

"This isn't going to hurt," Thomas asks.

"Your eye's numb," Chase answers while maneuvering the controls. "You'll only feel pressure. A second needle enters and begins to suck out some of the fluid in the eye. "Give it a minute," Chase says. Thomas's vision begins to clear.

"I can see," Thomas says smiling. "I can see!"

Chase smiles and turns to a nurse, "Get him cleaned up and back to his room." Chase turns to Thomas and winks at him as he removes his gloves and leaves the OR.

Later, Erica walks into Thomas's room where he's sleeping in his bed. She grabs his hand and kisses it waking him up. Thomas takes off the eye patch covering his left eye. "I can see you," he says.

"I heard! Congratulations," Erica says trying not to cry from happiness. She leans in to kiss him.

"Don't," Thomas says putting his hand up between him and Erica. "I haven't brushed my teeth in two days." She kisses him anyway.

"I'm so scared they're not gonna find out what's wrong with you," Erica says holding Thomas's hand tighter.

"No biggie. I'm fine," Thomas says.

"I feel so bad about this," Erica says. "It's all my fault."

"No. No, it's not," Thomas says.

"But your father. He hates me," Erica says.

"He's just pissed about his car," Thomas says. Erica leans in to kiss him again, but he pushes her back just in time to vomit all over her shirt.

Erica screams and then runs to the door shouting. "Help, help help!" Thomas's dad rushes in and shortly behind him are some nurses, then Taub, Chase, and Thirteen.

Moments later, Thomas is being wheeled in his bed to ICU. Trzaska and Foreman meet the rest of the team in the hallway.

"What's wrong," Trzaska asks.

"AST is 859, we're getting him to the ICU," Thirteen replies.

"ALT and GDT were in the tank," Chase says. "Our antibiotics…"

"Would not have caused this," Trzaska shouts over Chase, his limp causing him to fall behind.

"She must have given him drugs," Mr. Shafer says accusing Erica.

"I wouldn't do that," Erica says.

"It's not drugs," Trzaska shouts down the hall as he stops walking. "His liver is shutting down."

The team stops wheeling the bed. "What? What does that mean," Mr. Shafer asks walking back towards Trzaska.

"It means he's all better. He's ready to go home," Trzaska spits out sarcastically.

"What," Mr. Shafer asks confused with why Trzaska is talking to him this way.

"What do you think it means," Trzaska asks him. "You can't live without a liver, he's dying!"

"What is your problem," Mr. Shafer asks.

"Bum leg, what's yours," Trzaska replies.

"Hey, we don't have time for this, let's go," Foreman says sending he team to the ICU. He puts his hands on Mr. Shafer's shoulders and turns him in the direction the team is going. Mr. Shafer follows them. Foreman walks up to Trzaska. "His son's dying and you're mocking him," Foreman scolds Trzaska.

"It was a dumb question," Trzaska says.

"No, it wasn't," Foreman says.

"You're right, it wasn't," Trzaska says looking down in shame and leaning against the wall. He looks terrible. Foreman shakes his head and leaves.


	19. Slipping Part 3

Disclaimer: House and all respective characters do not belong to me. I am only borrowing them for personal enjoyment.

Also I am not a doctor so I have decided to borrow cases used earlier in the show for medical accuracy. My creativity comes in with building and developing character relationships as well as introducing original characters. Criticism and reviews are most welcome. Hope you enjoy.

* * *

Later, Foreman, Thirteen, Chase, and Taub are in the diagnostics office. Trzaska isn't there.

"Maybe Trzaska shouldn't be here," Taub suggests.

"Because he said something inappropriate," Chase asks.

"He's in pain," Thirteen says.

The other three doctors look at Thirteen as if she knows something they don't.

"Seriously? I can't be the only one who's noticed," Thirteen says. "Just look at him since he's been back. He looks like crap. Whatever he went to Chicago for he's still dealing with."

No one says anything for a moment. "Maybe we should tell Cuddy," Taub suggests. "Seems like he listens to her."

"If he's going to listen to anyone it's going to be me. I'm his boss," Foreman says.

Thirteen gives Foreman an 'as if' look. "Really? Now's not the time to pull rank. He needs to know he has someone to talk to. If he doesn't want to talk we need to give him his space."

Trzaska limps into the office midway through Thirteen's sentence. "Give who their space," Trzaska asks. Everyone stiffens up. Taub and Foreman shift their weight a little. "Do you want to continue talking about me or should we discuss what the liver damage means," Trzaska asks. No one answers him. "So I was born on the river under the Manhattan Bridge…"

"Hemolytic anemia doesn't cause liver damage," Thirteen says. "Add the fact he's coughing blood, you've got three of the indicators of organ-threatening lupus."

"It's moving too fast," Trzaska says. "Could be hepatitis-E."

"There's only been one case of hep-E originating in the US since…" Foreman starts.

"He's been in and out of the country four times in the last year," Trzaska interrupts.

"You really think he's got hep-E," Chase asks, turning to look at Trzaska.

"No. I think the lupus is way more likely," Trzaska answers.

"Then let's start him on IV Cytoxan and plasmapheresis," Thirteen says.

"No, we should rule out hep-E," Trzaska says.

"You just said it wasn't hep-E," Foreman responds and looks confused at Trzaska.

"I said lupus was way more likely, but if we treat for lupus and it is hep-E..." Trzaska starts.

"He's toast," Chase says dropping his pen on the table and leaning back to rub his face in frustration.

"Exactly," Trzaska says.

"But there isn't a treatment for hepatitis-E," Taub says. "Either he'll get better on his own or he'll continue to deteriorate."

"Yeah, I went to medical school, too," Trzaska says. "We should start him on solumedrol."

"If he's got hep-E that's only going to make him worse," Thirteen says.

"Not as much," Foreman chimes in leaning forward in his chair and clasping his fingers together. "It won't hurt him so much that it'll kill him, and it won't hurt him so little that we can't tell. It'll hurt him just right."

"And if it does nothing," Taub asks.

"We'll know it's not hep-E and start treating him for lupus," Foreman says.

"What do we tell the dad," Thirteen asks. "We think your kid has lupus, so we're gonna treat him for hepatitis-E? And oh yeah, if it really is hep-E, we're not actually giving him hep-E medication, so it's gonna make him worse, not better?"

"You think he'll go for that," Chase asks.

"I'll tell him," Trzaska says.

"Yeah 'cause he loves you," Foreman says sarcastically. "You tell him," Foreman says looking at Thirteen.

"Why me," Thirteen asks.

"You've interacted with him the most," Foreman says matter of fact. "You took the history, explained most of the treatments, he trusts you."

"He's not going to go for it," Thirteen says. "He'll insist on the lupus medication.

"Then don't tell him we think it's lupus," Foreman replies. Thirteen scoffs and gets up from the table leaving the office.

A short while later, Thirteen is talking to Thomas's dad outside his ICU room.

"We're recommending a drug called solumedrol," Thirteen says.

"For hepatitis," Mr. Shafer asks. "Did that show up on his blood tests?"

"The tests are never 100% accurate," Thirteen says.

"Well, then all the other tests could be wrong, too. This could still be an infection or cancer," Mr. Shafer says.

"Um, they don't fit any of the most recent symptoms," Thirteen interjects.

"Well, what, just hepatitis does," Mr. Shafer says but then immediately feels bad. "I know, I know, I know, you can never be sure." He pauses for a minute, collecting his thoughts. "When Linda was in the hospital, the doctor told us there was this aggressive experimental treatment which might extend her life by two or three years. We figured if there was any hope at all that we could have her with us a little while longer, it would be worth it. Three weeks later, she was gone."

"I don't think it's hepatitis," Thirteen suddenly blurts out. "I think your son has lupus."

Later, Cuddy walks into Foreman's office. He's at his desk doing some paperwork. Looking up he acknowledges her. Trzaska is sitting in one of the chairs with his feet up on the table in the diagnostics office with his eyes closed. Chase is on the computer and Taub is doing a crossword.

"Why did you tell Thirteen to lie to Mr. Shafer?

"It was the only way to get him to agree to the Hep-E treatment," Foreman says.

"Which he doesn't have," Cuddy says raising her voice some. The other doctors in the office hear the raised voice. Taub looks up from his puzzle, Chase from his computer, and Trzaska opens his eyes.

"It's the safer course," Foreman defends. "If we treat for lupus and he has Hep-E we'll kill him."

While Foreman is talking, Trzaska puts his feet down off the table, grabs his cane, and limps into his office. "It was my idea Lisa," Trzaska says. "And it was the right thing to do."

"The guy is furious," Cuddy says looking between Trzaska and Foreman.

"And scared," Trzaska says rubbing his eyes.

"So, what are you going to do," Cuddy asks looking at Foreman. "The father's insisting on the lupus treatment."

"Yeah, Thirteen told me and I told her to tell him no," Foreman says sternly.

"Well, you can't just sit back and let the kid die" Cuddy says.

"Neither can the father," Chase says walking into the office after listening to the conversation.

"So that's your plan," Cuddy asks. "You're gonna play chicken with the kid's life?"

"Well, he's the dad," Trzaska says. "We should win easily."

"What is wrong with you," Cuddy asks looking at him.

At that moment Thirteen walks into the office. At the same time Taub walks in from the side office, having seen Thirteen coming in. "I told him that you wouldn't treat him for the lupus until…" Thirteen starts.

"What did he say," Foreman interrupts.

"He said he wanted to transfer Thomas to another hospital," Thirteen states.

"He's not stable enough, he'd never make it through the door," Cuddy says surprised.

"That's what I told him," Thirteen says.

"And that's when he caved," Trzaska says sighing.

"Yeah. He agreed to do it your way," Thirteen says.

Trzaska looks at Cuddy and smiles, having been proven right.

Cuddy sighs and looks at Trzaska, "Hall. Now." She turns and leaves with Trzaska following her. "Playtime's over," Cuddy says. "What's going on?"

"Why does everyone insist something's going on," Trzaska says clearly frustrated.

"Because something obviously is," Cuddy responds. "Before you took your little sabbatical you never would have suggested risking a patient's life like this. And you wouldn't evade every question that gets asked of you."

"I forgot, you and Wilson are girlfriends," Trzaska says sarcastically.

"If you need more time off," Cuddy says, "you can have it. Just tell me what's going on."

"Want me to make something up," Trzaska asks. "That's the only way I can tell you what's going on since nothing's going on."

"Just promise me you'll come to me if something's wrong," Cuddy pleads.

Trzaska thinks for a moment and nods his head. Cuddy nods back and walks away.

A little while later, Taub and Thirteen are in Thomas's room to start the Hep-E treatment.

"If it is hepatitis-E we should begin to see a marked decline in liver function tests within the hour," Taub says.

"Why bother explaining it to me," Thomas's dad asks. "It's not like I have any choice in the matter."

"If there's no hep-E we'll start treatment for lupus immediately," Thirteen says.

"Ouch," Thomas shouts suddenly and looks down at his chest.

"Thomas? What's wrong," Taub asks.

"What's happening," Mr. Shafer asks.

"Get off," Thomas yells.

"Thomas? It's Dr. Taub, where does it hurt," Taub asks.

"Jules, no!" Thomas starts to mimic pushing something off of his chest.

"He's hallucinating," Thirteen says. Taub and Thirteen try to keep his arms down.

"Is this from the medicine," Thomas's dad asks.

"We haven't started the medicine," Taub says.

"Thomas, we're in the hospital," Thirteen says. "Thomas, there's nothing on you."

"Thomas, Thomas, Thomas!" His father yells and shakes him slightly, and then strokes his hair. "You okay, buddy?"

"I think I wet the bed," Thomas says embarrassed.

"Don't worry about it, it's fine," Taub says. "Let's get you up." They turn him over to find a massive amount of blood on the bed.

"Oh, God," Thomas's dad yells.

"He's had a major bleed. Bright red blood per rectum," Thirteen says.

"I didn't mean to, I'm sorry," Thomas apologizes.

Machines start beeping. "He's going into hypervolemic shock," Taub says. "Pressure's 60, heart rate's 140."

"We need an angiography, stat," Thirteen shouts as nurses start running into the room.

They get Thomas stabilized and start him on packed red blood cells for the blood loss. Afterwards in the diagnostics office, they are all discussing the case. Everyone is sitting around the table except for Trzaska who is leaning forward against one of the bookcases.

"Angiography revealed major upper and lower GI bleeding, severe hemodynamic compromise, and liver failure," Chase says.

"He's also hallucinating. Thinks he's being talked to by someone named Jules," Taub says.

"Hallucinations are a symptom of psychosis, which is the fourth diagnostic criterion," Thirteen says. "It's official. This is lupus."

"Who's Jules," Trzaska asks with his back to everyone. "Any mention of her in the medical history?"

"It doesn't matter what he's hallucinating about, it matters why! It's lupus," Thirteen says.

"There's no need to get snippy," Trzaska says turning around. "This kind of lupus takes years to get to this point, it's been a week."

"Yeah, and a 16-year-old kid shouldn't have hemolytic anemia, or be bleeding out of every orifice, but he is," Thirteen says. "We had an opportunity to treat this, instead we diddled around with hepatitis-E and now it's too late. He needs a new liver. We screwed up."

"You're saying I screwed up," Trzaska states looking directly at Thirteen.

"Yes," Thirteen says defiantly.

"Then why didn't you just say that," Trzaska asks.

"It doesn't matter whose fault it is we're all in this together," Foreman says. "We all agreed on Hep-E."

"No you agreed on Hep-E," Thirteen snipes. "It didn't matter what the rest of us said."

"Chase and Taub agreed with Hep-E," Foreman states.

"But she didn't," Trzaska says.

"No, I didn't," Thirteen says flatly.

"And then you went and lied to the father. That's why you're angry," Trzaska says.

"Yeah, I trusted you," Thirteen says.

"Lupus is a bad diagnosis and you know it," Trzaska says making a face.

"It's the best diagnosis we've got," Chase says.

"That doesn't make it good," Trzaska responds.

"No, it just makes it this kid's only chance to live," Foreman says. There's silence in the room for a moment.

"We've got to put him on the transplant list," Trzaska says. "And make sure Lisa knows; see if she can do anything to get him close to the top." He turns suddenly and walks out into the hall disappearing from their view. The others all look at each other for a few seconds. Thirteen gets up and walks out heading the way Trzaska went. She walks down the hall looking in different directions trying to spot where he went. Reaching the end of the hall Thirteen looks around, not seeing Trzaska anywhere. She hears someone throwing up and looks in the direction it was coming from. The door to Wilson's office is open. Thirteen walks in cautiously and sees Trzaska sitting on Wilson's couch puking in a trashcan. He looks up and sees Thirteen. "Cafeteria. Stay away from the sushi." He wipes his mouth with a napkin and spits in the trashcan.

"Uh huh, and what happened to your hand," she asks noticing some stitches on the back of his right hand.

"Fell into a cabinet a few hours ago, I'm fine," Trzaska says.

"Yeah, I usually leave in the middle of a differential and sneak into someone else's office to vomit when I'm fine," Thirteen says sitting down on the couch next to Trzaska and crossing her legs. "Look, whatever it is you're going through, it's none of my business. But as your friend, I'm worried about you. Worried you're slipping. Whatever it is you're not fine."

"No, I am just tired," Trzaska replies. "Lack of sleep causes nausea, weakness, and therefore clumsiness," he says holding up his hand.

"Well you're obviously not sleeping for a reason," Thirteen responds and puts her hand on his back rubbing it for a second. "If you need anything, you know where to find me."

Trzaska nods and sets the trashcan down. "Thanks." Thirteen pats Trzaska on his good leg and gets up, leaving the office and closing the door behind her.


	20. Slipping Part 4

Disclaimer: House and all respective characters do not belong to me. I am only borrowing them for personal enjoyment.

Also I am not a doctor so I have decided to borrow cases used earlier in the show for medical accuracy. My creativity comes in with building and developing character relationships as well as introducing original characters. Criticism and reviews are most welcome. Hope you enjoy.

* * *

A short while later, Thirteen and Chase are in Thomas's room talking to his father. Thomas is asleep.

"Lupus is normally treated with medication, but in Thomas's case the disease is too advanced," Thirteen explains.

"Because you lied," Thomas's dad says. "Because Dr. Foreman wanted to play games with my son's life."

"There's no way to really tell what progression the disease may take…" Chase starts trying to back up the call they made.

"You're right, and I'm sorry," Thirteen says.

"So what do we do," Mr. Shafer asks.

"He needs a new liver," Thirteen says.

Meanwhile, Foreman is downstairs talking to Cuddy in her office.

"There are over fifteen thousand patients on the transplant list," Cuddy says.

"But how many are about to bleed to death unless they get a new liver," Foreman asks.

"In Jersey? I'd say, uh, twenty," Cuddy replies. "Two thousand patients die each year because a donor liver can't be found, that's almost five a day."

"So he's screwed," Foreman states.

"I'll see what I can do" Cuddy says.

A short while later in the day, Taub, Chase, Thirteen, and Foreman are outside Thomas's room with his father.

"Could I donate part of my liver," Mr. Shafer asks.

"Sorry, you're a different blood type," Chase answers.

"So we just wait," Mr. Shafer questions.

"I'm afraid so," Thirteen responds.

"And hope for someone to die," Mr. Shafer says.

Trzaska limps up towards everyone, he looks even worse than he did when Thirteen left him. He has deep bags under his eyes which are bloodshot. His hair is a mess and he's clearly been sweating.

"Who's Jules," Trzaska asks.

"Dr. Trzaska, you should get back to the office…" Thirteen starts.

"Jules. There's no Jules in the history," Trzaska says still focused. His eyes squinted from the migraine he is clearly getting.

"It was a hallucination," Taub says.

"Of what," Trzaska asks.

"Our cat," Mr. Shafer answers irritated. "Does this matter?"

"No, I'm sorry," Foreman says. "We'll continue the transfusions and the treatment for the anemia and liver failure while we're waiting for a donor."

"How long can he wait," Mr. Shafer asks.

"Not long," Chase says.

"I don't think this is lupus," Trzaska says.

"Come on, let's just go…" Thirteen says reaching out to take Trzaska's arm so she can lead him back to the office.

"Your fourth diagnostic criterion of lupus is psychosis; this is just a kid missing his cat," Trzaska says.

"He was being attacked by an animal that wasn't in the room," Chase says. "That's psychosis."

"There's a difference between psychosis and a hallucination," Trzaska responds.

"So, if he was imagining a fake cat it'd be lupus, but since it was a real cat it's not," Foreman asks irritated. "It's late. Go home."

"Psychosis requires…" Trzaska starts.

"There is no cat," Mr. Shafer shouts. "Jules is dead."

"You have a dead family pet, and you never mentioned it," Trzaska asks. "Nice family history."

"Family history is asking about family members, meaning people related to the patient" Thirteen says taking Trzaska's arm. "Let's go."

Trzaska shakes Thirteen's hands off him. "How did the cat die?"

"Can you get him out of here," Mr. Shafer asks looking at Foreman.

"Dr. Trzaska, come on, let's go…" Thirteen says.

"What happened to the cat," Trzaska asks shaking Thirteen off again.

"Old age," Erica answers from where she was sitting in the waiting area. She gets up and takes a few steps towards the group. "She was fifteen years old."

"When," Trzaska asks.

"About a month ago," Erica answers walking over to where the group was now.

"Does this have anything to do with…" Mr. Shafer starts to ask but is interrupted by Trzaska.

"Where'd she sleep," Trzaska asks.

"With Thomas," Erica answers.

"This is not a cat allergy," Thirteen says.

"It's not lupus," Trzaska says. "Where is Jules?"

"In our backyard," Mr. Shafer spits. "Are we done now."

"Yes," Foreman says.

Chase walks over to where Trzaska is standing and helps Thirteen usher Trzaska down the hall. "We need to look at that cat," Trzaska says looking at Chase.

"Foreman would never go for it," Chase answers.

"Then you go," Trzaska says. "Taub can babysit the kid. You two go and…"

"I'm not participating in anymore of your crazy ideas," Thirteen says bluntly. "If you go you're on your own," she says looking at Chase.

"Okay Thirteen can hold his hand and Taub can go," Trzaska suggests. Chase cocks his head and looks at Thirteen who rolls her eyes.

Thirteen looks at Trzaska for a moment and puts her hand to his head. "You're burning up. When did you spike a fever?"

"Please," Trzaska says pleading with Chase who looks back and sighs in defeat. Trzaska nods and limps away slowly with every muscle in his body aching. Thirteen and Chase look on as he turns a corner.

Half an hour later, Chase and Taub are in the Shafer's yard digging. It's dark now.

"Foreman really thinks the hallucination has something to do with why Thomas is sick," Taub asks Chase. "Why did he dismiss it so quickly then?"

"He thought about it and reconsidered," Chase says. "Now quit talking and help me dig. The ground's frozen solid."

Taub starts to help dig. They hit something hard. "What's that," Taub asks looking at Chase.

Across Princeton, in Trzaska's apartment, Amelia is sitting in bed watching t.v. and eating a bowl of chili. Trzaska sticks his head in the door. "How are you feeling," he asks her.

"Better, thanks," Amelia replies nodding her head. "This chili is awesome."

"Thanks," Trzaska says smiling tiredly and wiping his face. "I gotta head back out for a while. Work to finish." He starts to leave but Amelia calls him.

"Adam," she calls. Trzaska turns back and peeks his head back in through the doorway. "You feeling okay," she asks concerned.

"Yeah, just a little tired," Trzaska lies. "This case is just bothering me that's all."

"Be careful," she says blowing him a kiss. Trzaska pretends to catch it as he turns to leave.

Chase and Tuab bring the cat back to the hospital, meeting Trzaska in the morgue. Trzaska sends them to check in with Foreman so they aren't missed and rubs his face with his hand, his fingers feeling the stubble on his face. Only a few lights are on to help with Trzaska's photophobia. He pulls his tie loose and takes it off, then unbuttons the top two buttons of his shirt. He puts on a pair of latex gloves and looks at the instruments on the table next to him. Picking up the scalpel, Trzaska prepares to make his first incision. He has trouble as his hands are shaking. Unknown to Trzaska, an interested Thirteen watches through the glass walls.

Out in the front lobby a man walks in carrying a cooler with a biohazard sticker on it. Cuddy walks out of the clinic and meets the man. "Out of the way," she says to some people in front of them. She picks up her phone as they walk towards the elevators. "We have the liver. Prep OR 4."

Back in the morgue, Trzaska finds a mysterious lump in the cat.

A short time later, Thomas is in the OR being gassed down.

"All right, Thomas. Start counting backward from ten," the anesthesiologist says as she places a mask over Thomas's face.

Thomas nods and begins to count. "Ten… nine… eight…"

"He's out," the anesthesiologist nods to Dr. Hourani.

"Scalpel," Dr. Hourani says. He's about to cut, when Trzaska bursts through the doors and limps in.

"Stop the gases," Trzaska announces.

"What the hell are you doing," Hourani says not knowing who Trzaska is.

"Saving a sixteen-year-old kid from a lifetime of immunosuppressant drugs and a very nasty scar," Trzaska answers. "This kid doesn't have lupoid hepatitis. He has acute naphthalene toxicity."

"Naphthalene? You're talking about mothballs," Hourani asks. "And who the hell are you."

"Nope, termites," Trzaska says holding up a pair of forceps with a mysterious bundle between the handles. "They create naphthalene to protect their nests, which I'm assuming is rather large and is inside all four walls of his bedroom at home." He tosses the tweezers on the surgical instruments. "Oh and I'm Dr. Trzaska." He smiles sarcastically at Hourani.

"And your assumption is based on what," Hourani asks.

"The autopsy I just conducted on his pet cat," Trzaska answers.

Call Cuddy. And security," Hourani says to a nurse standing next to him.

"You are not removing that kid's liver," Trzaska says firmly.

"NOW," Hourani shouts at the nurse who goes to call. Trzaska coughs up some phlegm, and spits it on the surgeon. "Have you completely lost your mind?!"

"No, but I have been feeling a little sick lately," Trzaska says and sneezes. He wipes his nose with one of the sterile towels and throws it on the once sterile incision site. Trzaska turns and limps out of the OR, leaving Hourani and his staff to clean up the mess.

"There's no way we can do this surgery now," the anesthesiologist says.

"You think," Hourani shouts furiously.

A short time later, Foreman, Chase, Taub, and Thirteen catch up to Trzaska as he's limping down one of the halls.

"What the hell has gotten into you," Foreman asks yelling at Trzaska.

"You've already cost him his liver, don't kill him too," Taub says.

"Why are you so eager to cut into a healthy kid," Trzaska says moving down the hall completely convinced he did the right thing.

"Healthy? He's in the toilet," Chase replies.

"He just needs some chicken soup," Trzaska says rounding a corner.

"I'm telling Hourani to re-scrub. We're doing this transplant," Foreman says.

"And I'll stop them again," Trzaska says.

"If Thomas's symptoms had an environmental cause, they would have disappeared as soon as he got here," Foreman says.

"They've only gotten worse," Thirteen iterates.

"If the food here wasn't one step below Riker's Island he would've gotten better," Trzaska says. "He's lost fourteen pounds."

"Yeah, sure. This is nothing but a dietary thing," Taub says.

"Naphthalene is a gas, a fat soluble gas," Trzaska says. "The kid breathes it in, it gets stored in his fat cells. Outside the hospital his body burned protein and carbs for energy, and the naphthalene stayed in fat. But once the car accident put him in the hospital and he started losing weight, his body had to get its energy somewhere else. It started to burn fat. The floodgates opened, the poison poured into his system."

"So, getting away from the poison is what poisoned him," Foreman says with a disbelieving tone.

"Getting him away from his dad's meatloaf is what's killing him," Trzaska replies rounding another corner. Cuddy and Thomas's dad are walking down the hall toward Trzaska very quickly.

"You wanna explain to me why you stopped the surgery," Cuddy yells from down the hall. Thomas's dad, beyond words, walks up and punches Trzaska in the jaw, who then falls to the ground. "N…Oh, my God! My God." Foreman, Taub, and Chase run to restrain the dad, Thirteen and Cuddy kneel to look at Trzaska.

"I want him locked up," Mr. Shafer yells.

"Hey! Take it easy," Chase says.

Trzaska touches his lip, which is bleeding. He swallows hard and then finds his voice. "Your cat did not die of old age. He died of massive internal bleeding and acute liver failure caused by naphthalene poisoning, the exact same thing your son has."

"You lie to me, you mess up my son's surgery, and now you expect me to trust you," Mr. Shafer says still being restrained by the men.

"Give me twenty-four hours, we'll pump your son full of calories…" Trzaska starts.

"That liver is going to somebody right now," Cuddy says.

Thomas's father shakes the men off and stands still. "We're doing that surgery."

Trzaska gets up slowly, "If you do the surgery, you'll be killing a mother of four."

"Father of three," Cuddy says rolling her eyes.

"I was guessing," Trzaska says shrugging. His voice hanging with fatigue.

"Like you are now," Mr. Shafer says.

"Naphthalene poisoning is the best explanation we have for what's wrong with your son," Trzaska says swallowing again. "It explains the internal bleeding, the hemolytic anemia, the liver failure… it also predicts what'll happen next. If you do the surgery he's gonna lay on that table for fourteen hours while his body continues to burn fat and release poison into his system. Either way, I did you a favor. He's awake now, you've got a chance to say goodbye." He pauses for a minute waiting for what will happen next.

Thirteen looks from Trzaska to Mr. Shafer and looks solemnly at Thomas's father. "I think you should trust Dr. Trzaska."

Mr. Shafer is silent for a moment, contemplating what has been said. "Give the liver to the other guy."

Trzaska arrives at his apartment later that night. He leans his cane near the door and greets Ryoko before she can start growling. Trzaska shuffles his bad leg with difficulty, trying to be as quiet as he can as he approaches his bedroom. He passes a digital clock in his bathroom that reads 11:00 p.m. Ryoko trots past him into the bedroom just as Trzaska pushes open the door. He sees Amelia curled up under the blankets causing him to smile. He watches for a moment and sees Ryoko jump on the bed and lays her head on Amelia's arm before she starts to nuzzle her and whine. Amelia begins to stir and wakes up petting Ryoko and looking around the room. The light on the nightstand next to her was enough to illuminate most of the room. She saw her brother standing by the door and smiled at him. As her vision cleared from drowsiness, her smile faded to a frown. "What happened to your face," she asks concerned while sitting up. "Come here." Trzaska sighs, not having the energy to put up a fight. He shuffles over to the bed sitting down on it and laying across it on his back so his head ends up in Amelia's lap. Amelia starts to stroke Trzaska's messy hair and she gently touches his lip to look at it.

"OWWW! That hurts," Trzaska shouts.

"Sorry," Amelia says and strokes his hair again. She sits in silence with her brother for a moment before she speaks again. "Wanna talk about it?"

"Not really," Trzaska says. "Patient's father took a swing at me 'cause I stopped his son's surgery."

Amelia thought for a moment and then spoke. "I'm sure you had a good reason."

"I did, but he didn't know that," Trzaska replied. "I can't blame him. We never really got along to begin with."

Amelia really began to look at her brother's face for a moment. He didn't notice as he was staring at the ceiling fan spinning above him. "You look terrible Adam. Are you sure you're okay?"

"I love you too sis," Trzaska says pouting.

"That's not what I meant and you know it," she says lightly slapping his shoulder. "I mean really are you okay?"

"Not really," Trzaska says dropping the pout he wore on his face. His gaze shifts from the ceiling fan to his sister's eyes looking down at him. He sees the deep concern in them. The same look he saw in his face that morning as he stared in the mirror trying to psych himself up for the day. "I've been sick to my stomach over all of this," he admits. "You being sick, going back to work, it's just been a really long day. I'll adjust though," he says smiling at her. "So you don't worry about me okay?"

"That's not possible," Amelia says leaning down and kissing her brother on his forehead. "But I appreciate your honesty. And it makes me worry about you less."

Trzaska looks up and smiles at Amelia. "You excited about Thanksgiving," he asks matter of fact.

"I am actually," Amelia replies and leans back still running her fingers through Trzaska's hair. "Remember you promised to let me make my cranberry sauce."

"Only if you're feeling up to it," Trzaska says.

"Oh I'll be up to it. Don't you worry," she replies.

"I never do," Trzaska says laughing. Amelia begins to laugh with him and moves her hand to start to pet Ryoko who is lying next to her. Ryoko moves her head and lays it on Trzaska's chest while everyone continues to laugh.

In the morning, Chase and Taub arrive at Thomas's house again, this time going into his room. Chase is carrying a sledgehammer and starts to break a hole in the wall. Taub shines a flashlight into the hole and seconds later a swarm of termites start to pour out of the hole.

Several hours later, Thirteen is in Thomas's room talking to him, his father, and Erica. "INR is down, and his blood count is climbing," Thirteen says. She smiles at Mr. Shafer, "It means you made the right call. His liver is healing. He's gonna be just fine." Mr. Shafer hugs his son, and Erica grabs Thomas's hand. The dad grabs Erica's arm, too, and everyone is happy.

As Thirteen heads back upstairs to the ddx office, she notices Trzaska sitting in a chair in another patient's room in the ICU. He's eating a sandwich and flipping through t.v. channels. Thirteen enters the room and closes the door. The patient is sound asleep since he's a coma patient. Trzaska continues flipping channels not paying any attention to Thirteen. She walks over and takes a seat in a chair next to Trzaska. He still looks terrible, but a little better than when she last saw him. His hair is at least straight and his face clean shaven. His lip is still swollen and bruised. "Hiding," Thirteen asks.

"How'd you know," Trzaska asks still flipping through the channels.

"It's a trick House used to pull," Thirteen replies.

"It worked so often I thought I might try it," Trzaska replies getting frustrated he hasn't found anything to watch.

"Who you hiding from," Thirteen asks.

"Lisa, James, Foreman, anyone with any sort of authority over me really," Trzaska says. I'm trying to avoid any sort of scolding or reprimand."

Thirteen holds her hands together not sure how to communicate what she wants to say. "I…I'm sorry I doubted you," she finally says. Trzaska doesn't respond and takes a bite out of his sandwich just after landing on a college football game. "I'm still worried about you, but you never screwed up the case. You were just doing what you thought was right just like I was. We just happened to have different opinions. Despite what I thought about what you were doing, you actually never lost focus. And I just wanted to say I'm sorry."

Trzaska wipes his mouth with a napkin after swallowing the bite he had taken. He looks at Thirteen and nods to her. "I'm fine," he says turning his attention back to the t.v. and taking another bite of his sandwich.

"Okay," Thirteen says nodding and gets up from the chair to walk out of the room.

"Thank you," Trzaska says looking at Thirteen, their eyes meeting.

"You're welcome," she says and smiles half-heartedly at him.

"Tell Chase too," Trzaska says taking another bite of his sandwich and looking back at the t.v. again.

Thirteen nods, opens the door and starts to walk over the threshold. She suddenly stops and takes a backwards step into the room closing the door again. "You know it's just my Dad and I," she starts. "There's going to be more food than we can eat. I'm gonna invite Chase. Wanna come?"

"Thanks, I already have plans," Trzaska says smiling at Thirteen.

"Not alone I hope," Thirteen says, swallowing hard as the words left her mouth. Trzaska shakes his head and smiles at her. "Heather?" Trzaska shakes his head only once and looks down. This time he's not smiling. "You should call her," Thirteen suggests. Trzaska doesn't respond and is staring at the t.v. as he takes another bite out of his sandwich. "Well…Happy Thanksgiving," she says and walks out of the room.

Trzaska throws his sandwich down on the plate that was sitting in his lap and sighs, conflicted about what to do next. As fate would have it at that moment his phone rings. Trzaska pulls it out of his pocket and looks at the caller i.d. Heather's picture is staring back at him. A picture of her smiling from when the two of them went to a rock concert Trzaska had backstage passes to. Trzaska thinks for a moment about answering it and then decides to ignore the call, setting his phone down on a small table next to him.


	21. In Charge Part 1

Disclaimer: House and all respective characters do not belong to me. I am only borrowing them for personal enjoyment.

Also I am not a doctor so I have decided to borrow cases used earlier in the show for medical accuracy. My creativity comes in with building and developing character relationships as well as introducing original characters. Criticism and reviews are most welcome. Hope you enjoy.

**A/N: It has been months now since House has disappeared. The team is marching on, except for one of them. Will Trzaska drown in his grief, or will he rise above his troubles and make everything right? Keep reading to find out.**

**Also for full effect have Halestorm's "It's Not You" ready for your listening pleasure. **

* * *

The sun is just starting to go down at the McCarter Theatre Center in New Jersey. The band Halestorm is preparing to take the stage to start their act. The drummer Arejay comes out first and starts drumming as the bassist Josh, lead guitarist Joe, and lead singer Lzzy came out and start playing "It's Not You."

I'm in love with somebody  
Found someone who completes me  
I'm in love with somebody,Oh yeah  
And it's not you

Read my finger whatcha gonna do?  
See these lips are all done talkin' to you  
I don't mean to bruise your ego  
But I've had you nailed down for so long  
And I don't see your name on my tattoo  
Hope you understand  
It's been a long time coming  
It's for the best  
No offence

I'm in love with somebody  
Found someone who completes me  
I'm in love with somebody, Oh yeah  
And it's not you

I know who you think you are  
Sorry I've turned you on but I'm kissing you off  
Your lines are whiskey and cigarettes  
They're not enough to make me forget  
I've got someone who has raised the bar  
I've heard it all before  
Stop spinning your wheels  
I'll show you the door  
No hard feelings

I'm in love with somebody  
Found someone who completes me  
I'm in love with somebody, Oh yeah  
And it's not…

Lzzy doesn't finish the last word as she coughs away from the microphone but keeps playing her guitar. No one notices but the band. They make confused faces and think it's weird but continue playing.

You've probably never been shot down before  
I'll try and make it easierrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

This time Lzzy loses her voice during her scream and starts coughing. She stops playing and falls onto the floor on her hands and knees. The other members stop playing. Her brother Arejay hurdles over his drum kit to Lzzy's side and leans down.

"Lzzy you okay? What's wrong," he asks frantically. Lzzy puts her hands around her throat, signaling she's choking. She's gasping for breath and can't breathe. "She's choking! Call a doctor," Arejay shouts. Lzzy's lips start to turn blue. "Somebody help! She's turning blue," Arejay shouts. The audience is visibly concerned. Gasps and muttering can be heard coming from them as EMTs rush onto the stage.

A few days later a knock is heard at Trzaska's apartment. He's asleep on his couch and doesn't hear the knocking. The visitor pounds on the door louder this time causing Ryoko to bark. Trzaska's eyes shoot open and startled he falls off the couch. He shakes his head trying to wake himself and figure out what just happened. "I hear you in there," Heather's voice screams through the door. Trzaska curses himself and slowly gets up looking at the clock on the wall which reads 7:18. He's only wearing a pair of black pajama pants. Slowly, Trzaska goes to the door as the pounding starts again. He answers it mid pound and comes face to face with the angriest expression he's ever seen. "Hi there, my name's Heather, I'm a PT at Princeton Plainsburrow, I enjoy biking and long walks on the beach," Heather says sarcastically. "Oh yeah, and up until a few weeks ago I was fucking you!"

"Hi," is all Trzaska says. He shifts his gaze from Heather to a spot on the floor, finding it difficult to look at her. She's rightfully pissed.

"So what's going on," Heather asks the loudness of her voice not concerned with this conversation being private. "You disappear and then you start ignoring my calls? What the hell?"

Trzaska doesn't say anything for a moment, trying to find the right words. "I've been busy."

"Busy," Heather irritatedly asks. "Busy? I've been worried sick about you! Wondering if you're okay! Wondering what could have caused you to run off like you did! Why you didn't call! And then I find out you're back at work! And you still aren't calling me! Oh and to top it off, Chase tells me you're getting into fights with your patient's father!"

"Damn him," Trzaska mutters under his breath.

"OH don't worry," Heather says. "He got his ass chewing already! Now it's YOUR turn! Tell me what's going on! And when did you get a dog!"

Heather steps forward trying to walk into the apartment but Trzaska steps in front of her and pulls the door tighter. "No dog. Fell asleep with the t.v. on," Trzaska says.

"I can't even come in so we can talk about this," Heather asks frustrated.

"Nothing to talk about," Trzaska says firmly.

"Nothing to talk about? What do you call all of this," Heather asks throwing her arms in the air in frustration. "There's plenty to talk about! You just don't WANT to talk about it! Whatever it is you NEVER want to talk about it!"

"There's just…some stuff I have to deal with," Trzaska says hesitantly, clearly hiding something.

"And I'm not allowed to help you," Heather questions. "You know, I really like you. I felt like we had something really nice starting. But either you tell me what's going on or I'm leaving and you'll never see me again." Trzaska is silent and starts to shake his head when another voice is heard from inside his apartment.

"Adam? What's going on? What's with the shouting?" Amelia's voice sounds weak and forced.

Heather catches Trzaska off guard and pushes past him into the apartment revealing Amelia standing in the doorway to Trzaska's bedroom. She's wearing her snowflake pajama bottoms and a long sleeve black shirt with an Avenged Sevenfold logo on it. She looks like she has a terrible headache but Heather is so mad she doesn't notice. "So this is what you're dealing with huh," Heather says looking from Amelia back to Trzaska. "If it's over you could at least be a man and tell me!" Heather's expression is mixed with anger and hurt. Her eyes are beginning to tear up.

"No! It's not what you think," Amelia starts to say and takes a shaky step forward.

"I don't know you, but now would be a really good time for you to be quiet," Heather snaps at Amelia causing her to stop walking. Heather is now crying.

"But we're not…" Amelia starts but Heather cuts her off by turning around and slapping Trzaska in the face.

"I thought you were different," Heather says. "I thought you were a nice guy. But you're not; you're just like every other douche out there. I hope she's worth it." With that Heather storms out of Trzaska's apartment slamming the door behind her.

"No wait!" Amelia shouts out and takes two more steps before falling to her hands and knees from weakness. Trzaska is near her in a flash checking her out. "Why? Why…didn't you…"

"It's okay," Trzaska says. "It doesn't matter."

"But…you're throwing away…" Amelia loses her breath and starts to wheeze. Trzaska picks her up quickly and carries her to his bedroom. Laying her down, Trzaska grabs an oxygen mask that was sitting on the nightstand and puts it over Amelia's face. She takes the mask from him and holds it herself. After taking a few breaths she pulls it away to speak. "You're an ass…but you don't…have to be…" she pulls the mask back to her face and takes a few more breaths.

Trzaska just rubs her arm. "I know," he says kissing her forehead. Ryoko crawls from the foot of the bed up next to Amelia. She lays her head down on Amelia's thigh and whimpers.

Later that day at PPTH Thirteen is examining Lzzy Hale who's sitting on an ICU bed with her legs hanging off the side. Her brother Arejay is also there standing nearby.

"It was three days ago," Lzzy says. "My throat got really dry, and my tongue felt like it was blowing up like a balloon."

"I assume somebody checked for food allergies," Thirteen says.

"The first two doctors both did," Arejay says.

"The next one said it was a panic attack; the one after that wanted to take my tonsils out," Lzzy says.

"The last one had no idea," Arejay says. "But as luck would have it I was talking to the guys at a music store when I ran into Matt Shadows. He suggested Lzzy get looked at by Dr. Trzaska. Is he here yet?"

Thirteen shakes her head and looks at the chart. "Not yet," Thirteen replies. "You can get back in bed now." Lzzy quickly gets under the covers. A shiver runs through her whole body and she rubs her arms trying to warm them. "You were in the middle of a performance when the attack happened correct," Thirteen asks.

"Yeah," Lzzy nodded. "Nothing like this has ever happened before though, and we have been doing this since we were kids. No asthma, no nothing."

At that moment a man walks into Lzzy's room carrying a worn spiral notebook. "Sorry, traffic," he says. "I brought your notebook."

"Oh thanks hun," Lzzy says kissing the man as he bends down next to her while taking the spiral from him. "You're the best you know?"

"Hey Mark," Arejay says shaking the man's hand.

"I'm sorry, who are you," Thirteen asks.

"It's okay," Lzzy says. "He's my fiancé."

Thirteen nods and makes a note. "I'm going to give your case to Dr. Foreman and we'll discuss your case."

"No," Arejay says suddenly and looks confused. "We came to see Dr. Trzaska. Matt said he knew him and he would take care of her." Lzzy and Mark also look confused.

"Dr. Trzaska works for Dr. Foreman. He runs the Diagnostics Department that will be taking your case," Thirteen explains. "But I will make sure you get Dr. Trzaska's full attention." Arejay nods satisfied and puts his hand on Lzzy's bedside, while she holds Mark's hand.

Thirteen turns and leaves to go upstairs to the diagnostics office. When she arrives she finds the entire team there. Chase is surfing the internet as per usual, Taub is doing a crossword and Trzaska has his head buried in a mountain of textbooks. "Doing some light reading," Thirteen asks Trzaska and knocks on the door to Foreman's adjoining office to get his attention. When Foreman looks up Thirteen waves him to come over.

"Something like that," Trzaska replies without looking up.

Foreman walks in and looks at Thirteen, "What's up?"

"Cuddy caught me in the clinic and handed me a case," Thirteen responds. "Twenty-six year old woman with swollen tongue and trouble breathing," she says handing Foreman the file and tossing copies to each of the other fellows. "And she's the singer of a metal band called Halestorm."

"L…L…how do you even say her name," Chase says.

"Lizzy Hale," Trzaska fills in for Chase. "Short for Elizabeth."

"Is my copy missing an 'i' Chase asks.

"Just how she spells it," Thirteen says. "And in a final twist, she's asked for Dr. Trzaska to personally take her case. "

Everyone looks over at Trzaska who stares blankly back at them all. "Why me?"

"Your old friend Matt Shadows sent her here after five doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong with her," Thirteen answers. "He told them you were the best."

Everyone looks from Trzaska to Foreman in silence. "This is your case then. You're in charge," Foreman says shrugging his shoulders. "Where do you want to start?"

Trzaska wipes his face with both of his hands. He then leans back and drops his hands on the table on top of the books he'd been reading. "I'm kind of busy."

"No room for negotiation," Thirteen says. "Cuddy's orders."

Trzaska sighs and picks up the file looking through it.

"Maybe the first doctor was right," Chase says. "Food allergy explains the anaphylaxis."

"Could be neurological," Foreman says. "Progressive bulbar paralysis would explain the symptoms."

"No, ALS would affect her facial muscles before her throat," Thirteen says.

"What if the problem's not in her throat," Trzaska says looking up from the file.

"That would be a little odd considering that's where all her symptoms are," Chase responds.

"Says who," Trzaska asks.

"The patient," Thirteen answers.

"With all due respect to Miss Hale, she may not know the difference between choking and suffocating," Trzaska says leaning forward. "Her throat might be fine. It might be her lungs that are messed up. We should get more blood, a chest CT and a body plethysmograph. Unless, you think differently boss," Trzaska says looking at Foreman.

"It's your case, your call," Foreman says.

Trzaska nods and the others get up to go run tests. Trzaska gets up last and grabs Foreman's sleeve on the way out, stopping him from leaving. "I don't want this case," Trzaska says. "Can you cover it for me?"

"No can do," Foreman responds. "The patient wants you and Cuddy confirmed. My hands are tied."

Trzaska sighs and shakes his head. "I'm not ready," Trzaska says with humility. "I'm still going to defer to you on final decisions." Foreman nods and gives Trzaska a reassuring pat on his shoulder before turning to leave. Trzaska stops him again. "I got this boss. You go do…boss things." Foreman chuckles and turns around going into his office as Trzaska leaves.

A half hour later, Thirteen has Lzzy in the plethysmography machine. Mark is standing next to Thirteen watching. "I'm gonna close the shutter now," Thirteen says through the intercom. "I need you to pant, kinda like a dog." Lzzy does as Thirteen tells her. "That's good, keep going." She turns and looks at Mark for a second. "Can I ask you a personal question?"

"I guess," Mark says.

"What's it like being engaged to a famous rock star," Thirteen asks.

"It's not as cool as it seems," Mark says honestly. "But it's what she enjoys and I want her to be happy so...I don't complain. Are you married?"

"No," Thirteen says. She flips the intercom on and talks to Lzzy. "You can go back to taking the deep breaths now." She turns her attention back to Mark. "You think it can work with her travelling and you staying home. Aren't you worried one of you might get bored?"

"Marriages don't fail because couples get bored," Mark says. "They fail because, while they're dating people pretend to be the person they think their partner wants and then, well, there's only so long you can keep that up."

"Maybe they are that person while they're dating, but then they change," Thirteen says.

"People thinking that their partner will change, that's another reason marriages fail," Mark says. He looks at Lzzy and winks at her, she winks back and smiles looking completely smitten. "People don't change. Least, not in any way that really matters."

"I disagree," Thirteen says. "Experiences change people. I've seen that time and again." Thirteen punches a few keys and then continues back to the conversation. "How'd the two of you meet?"

"Bumped into each other at a coffee shop eight months ago in Trenton," Mark says. "Literally bumped into each other. Lzzy was leaving as I was entering, she spilled her coffee on me and I coaxed her into letting me take her to dinner to make up for it. Seems like it was fate, I run a small marketing business and I had some great ideas for her band. One thing led to another and a few weeks ago I asked her to marry me."

"Sounds like a fairytale," Thirteen says a little snidely.

"Not exactly," Mark responds. "But it's close enough for me." He watches Lzzy for a moment and then changes the subject. "Are we going to meet Dr. Trzaska soon?"

"I think so," Thirteen answers clicking a few more keys. "I actually expected him here by now."

Meanwhile, across town, Trzaska is in his apartment with Amelia. He brings her a bowl of soup on a tray and sets it down on her lap. Ryoko jumps off the bed and leaves the bedroom. A minute later she can be heard lapping water from the kitchen. Amelia pulls the oxygen mask off her face. "Thanks little brother," she says. "I guess I overdid it this morning."

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that," Trzaska apologizes.

"You know you could have avoided the whole thing if you had called her weeks ago when I told you to," Amelia scolds.

Trzaska nods, "Too late now."

"That's crap," Amelia says. "You know if you explained she'd take you back."

"Stop Amelia," Trzaska says firmly and a little angrily. A moment passes and his expression softens again. "Stop trying to fix my life. I'm fine the way things are." He stands up and looks everything over. "You need anything else? Gotta get back to work."

"No I'm good," Amelia says. "Give me a kiss."

Trzaska groans and leans down giving Amelia a kiss on the cheek. "Call me if you need anything," he says as he leaves his bedroom and walks down the hall.

"I will," Amelia says filling her spoon with soup just before the front door shuts. She blows on the soup cooling it and sips slowly.

Trzaska arrives back in the diagnostics office not five minutes before Thirteen, Chase, and Taub come into the office to report. Foreman joins them from his office.

"You were right, it's not her throat, it's her lungs," Taub says.

"Plethysmograph revealed decreased lung capacity…" Thirteen starts.

"And the CT showed lung scarring," Chase adds.

"It's definitely interstitial pulmonary fibrosis," Taub says. "What's not definite is the cause. There's no arthritis, no sarcoidosis, she's not on any prescription meds, and as a musician I doubt she got exposed to coal dust or asbestos at work."

"Cause could be idiopathic," Thirteen suggests.

"Can't be idiopathic," Trzaska says. "Idiopathic means 'without a known cause'."

"What I meant was that…" Thirteen starts but is interrupted by Trzaska.

"What you meant was you don't know what the cause is," Trzaska says. "What's her current condition?"

"Stable," Thirteen says.

"Then we can wait," Trzaska says.

"Wait for what," Foreman asks.

"For whatever we can't figure out to cause something else," Trzaska says. "You know it's going to."

"It's possible the IPF could just continue to…" Foreman begins but is interrupted by everyone's beepers going off. They all rush out.

Moments later they arrive in Lzzy's room. Mark and Arejay are there.

"There's something wrong with her skin," Mark shouts a little panicked.

"Do something," Lzzy says scratching her arms and her collarbone.

"Okay, stop scratching, we've gotta look at it," Thirteen says taking Lzzy's arm in her hands.

"I can't. It's driving me crazy," Lzzy shouts.

"You've gotta stop scratching so we can look at it," Thirteen says firmly.

"Stop, stop, make it stop," Lzzy shouts while still scratching.

The team looks at Foreman who looks at Trzaska.

"What's wrong with her," Arejay asks.

"I have no idea," Trzaska says shaking his head.


	22. In Charge Part 2

Disclaimer: House and all respective characters do not belong to me. I am only borrowing them for personal enjoyment.

Also I am not a doctor so I have decided to borrow cases used earlier in the show for medical accuracy. My creativity comes in with building and developing character relationships as well as introducing original characters. Criticism and reviews are most welcome. Hope you enjoy.

* * *

The team gets everyone calmed down and then retreats to the hall to ddx. Trzaska and Foreman are walking next to each other with Thirteen to Trzaska's right. Taub is behind and between Thirteen and Trzaska and Chase is walking behind and between Trzaska and Foreman.

"The game's afoot Watson," Trzaska says to no one in particular. "What causes both lung scarring and the itchy, red blotches?"

"It's obviously not a reaction to medication, we haven't given her any yet," Chase says.

"Right, but what besides what's obviously not caused both the lung scarring and the splotches," Trzaska says.

"Lupus could cause lung scarring and a rash," Taub says.

"Or it could still be a food allergy," Chase retorts.

"We've already ruled out allergies," Foreman says.

"Can't be allergies, wouldn't explain the lung scarring," Thirteen says.

"Some homeopathic studies have found a connection between food allergies and autoimmune reactions, which could cause lung inflammation," Chase says.

"Yeah, and some homeopathic studies have also found that ground-up spiders can cure cancer," Thirteen responds.

"Lungs, skin. Skin, lungs. Lungs, skin," Trzaska mutters to himself. "Throat," he says barely audible.

"What," Foreman asks as Trzaska suddenly stops walking.

"Heavy metal toxicity," Trzaska says. "It explains the lungs, the itching, the swelling in the tongue and throat."

"I thought you didn't believe there was anything wrong in her throat," Foreman questions.

"I never said I didn't believe it," Trzaska says. "I just said I had good reason to doubt it."

"And now," Chase asks.

"Now I have good reason to doubt those doubts," Trzaska says. The team starts walking again.

"Patient's a little old to be chewing paint off the wall," Taub says.

"Nor does she drink well water, eat fish every day, or do anything else that could've exposed her to heavy metals," Foreman says.

"The tour passed through Cabo San Lucas," Thirteen suggests. "A lot of pottery in Mexico is contaminated with lead-based paint."

"We need to search their house," Trzaska says. "And screen her hair and blood for lead. And test for mercury and arsenic while you're at it. Chase, find out what the venue cooks with, if they've repainted recently or did any plumbing repairs."

"I don't speak Spanish," Chase says.

"That'll make things more difficult," Trzaska says. "Otherwise, did you have a point?" Chase rolls his eyes and Foreman chuckles.

The team breaks up and Trzaska heads for Wilson's office. He knocks three times and then opens the door poking his head in. "How much beans and rice do you think you'd have to eat from a ceramic pot painted with lead-based paint to get enough lead in your system to damage your lungs," Trzaska asks.

Wilson is looking through a chart at his desk. "Are we talking a child or an adult?"

"Adult," Trzaska replies.

"Then I'd say a lot," Wilson answers. "You'd have to eat beans every day for months."

"Thanks," Trzaska says nodding and leaves.

Meanwhile, Taub, Mark, and Thirteen are at Mark's home inspecting it.

"If the water was contaminated, wouldn't I be sick, too," Mark asks.

"People can metabolize toxins at different rates," Thirteen says. "We'll test it to be sure. Have you done any recent renovations?"

"No," Mark answers.

"Have any problems with bugs or rodents," Taub asks.

"Just the occasional ant," Mark says.

"Use bug spray," Taub questions.

"No, I hate the smell," Mark answers. "Luckily, both of us are pretty anal about keeping things clean."

"Yeah, I can tell," Thirteen says. She sees an ant crawling across a picture.

Meanwhile, Trzaska makes his way to Lzzy's room. She has her notebook in her lap and is making noises with her mouth like she's playing a guitar. Her brother Arejay is drumming on his lap. They stop when Trzaska walks in. "Please don't stop on my account," Trzaska says smiling and closes the door.

"Are you Dr. Trzaska," Arejay asks.

Trzaska takes a step closer to the bed and extends his hand to Arejay. "Adam, please," he says. He then shakes Lzzy's hand and puts it to his lips kissing it gently. "Enchante Miss Hale."

"Lzzy please," she says blushing and smiling as Trzaska returns her hand to her. "My brother has it on good authority that you're a great doctor."

"Just obsessive really," Trzaska says grabbing a nearby stool with his cane and wheeling it over.

"You're in good company, so am I," Lzzy says.

"What's wrong with my sister," Arejay asks.

"Honestly, I don't know," Trzaska admits as he sits down. He starts bouncing his cane. "But we're working on it. I've got a few theories and am gathering evidence as we speak. I promise I'll fill you in when we know more."

"Sounds good," Lzzy says. "But if you don't know anything, what are you doing here?"

"Well I had to come see the Hales of Halestorm," Trzaska says smiling. "Huge fan. I saw you last year at the Uproar Festival in Dallas. You really set the tone for the rest of the night. Very well done."

"Thanks man," Arejay says.

"So what are you two up to," Trzaska asks. "I think I interrupted a jam session."

"Just working on some new stuff," Lzzy says shyly. "Not ready to share it with our fans yet." She closes her notebook revealing a worn blue cover.

"That your music book," Trzaska asks.

"How'd you know," Lzzy asks.

"I have one just like it," Trzaska admits. "Mine's red though."

"Are you a musician," Arejay asks a little excited.

"I have the need to feel creative from time to time," Trzaska says blushing a little. "Nothing close to good though."

"I think you should let us judge that," Lzzy says.

"Yeah definitely," Arejay agrees.

Trzaska smiles and stands, "Maybe another time," Trzaska says. "I'll let you get back to work. I just wanted to check in on you." He takes Lzzy's hand again and kisses it. "It was a pleasure to meet you Lzzy." He gives her hand back to her and his eyes linger on hers.

"And you as well Adam," Lzzy says blushing again.

Trzaska shakes Arejay's hand again. "Arejay."

"Thank you doctor," Arejay says. He makes googly eyes at Lzzy as Trzaska turns around and leaves to go back upstairs.

"What," Lzzy asks, seeing the look her brother is giving her.

"Nothing. Just think the shade of red you are is perfect," Arejay says laughing.

"Oh bite me," Lzzy says laughing and throws one of her pillows at Arejay. The nurses outside turn and look in their direction as the laughing can be heard outside the room.

Later, Thirteen and Taub arrive back at the hospital to report their findings.

"You think ants are the problem," Trzaska asks sitting in a chair across from Foreman in his office.

"He says he doesn't use bug spray," Taub says.

"Some ants are poisonous," Foreman says. "Maybe…"

"Was the ant small and red or big and black," Trzaska asks thinking.

"Big and brown," Thirteen says.

"Halle Berry brown or Beyonce brown," Trzaska asks.

"Is there a difference," Taub asks.

"Is there a difference boss," Trzaska asks looking at Foreman. He looks back at Taub, "Army ants could devour, dissolve, and eat a cow in a matter of hours. Australian bull ants, on the other hand, are nasty little bastards, but more of a nuisance than a threat."

"Beyonce," Thirteen says.

"Well then, that's not it," Trzaska says. "How much clay did she eat at the venue," he asks Chase.

"It's a five-star place," Chase replies. "They swear they don't cook with ceramic pots."

"Tox screen," Trzaska asks.

"No evidence of lead, mercury or arsenic," Thirteen says.

"Everything can't be normal," Trzaska says. "Run the tests again. Call the venue, find some disgruntled employee to talk to. Go back to the home…"

"It's not heavy metals," Foreman interrupts.

"The symptoms say it is," Trzaska replies.

"The tests say it's not," Thirteen rebuts.

"Well, who're you gonna believe? The symptoms or the test," Trzaska asks.

"It could also be a food allergy," Chase says.

"Thirteen says it's not," Trzaska states.

"If your tests can be wrong, why can't hers," Chase argues.

"Her diet hasn't changed since she was a kid," Thirteen says. "Her favorite food is corn flakes."

"Which I assume she eats with milk, one of the most common adult onset food allergies," Chase argues.

"Start treating her for lead poisoning, it's the most likely heavy metal," Trzaska says. "And yeah, you can test her for allergies for dairy, wheat, and legume."

A short while later Chase is doing scratch tests on Lzzy. Mark is back, while Arejay is absent.

"If you're convinced it's allergies, why are you giving her drugs to treat lead poisoning," Mark asks.

"We're not convinced of anything, yet," Chase says.

"I think I need something else. This cream isn't working," Lzzy states while scratching her arm.

"We're doing everything we can," Chase says.

"Ow," Lzzy shouts.

"Sorry," Chase apologizes.

"No, it's not my back, it's my feet," Lzzy shouts. "I think I stepped in something when I went to the bathroom. It's on my socks, it's burning!"

"I don't see anything," Mark says.

"Please, take my socks off," Lzzy shouts.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait," Chase says trying to remove the socks.

"Ow! Stop, stop, stop," Lzzy screams.

"What did you just scratch her with," Mark asks.

"If there was an allergic reaction it would be on her back, not on her feet," Chase defends.

"Ah, it's burning," Lzzy screams. "Please make it stop!"

"Gonna need some gabapentin in here," Chase shouts to some nurses out in the hall.

After Chase gets Lzzy under control he goes back upstairs to ddx. The others are already there.

"Excruciating pain in the lower extremities. Not a sign of a food allergy," Chase says walking in the door and taking a seat at the table.

"Means there's a neurological problem," Foreman states scratching his goatee.

"More significantly, it's yet another classic sign of heavy metals," Trzaska says rubbing his forehead.

"And I just did yet another hair and blood test for lead and everything else she possibly could have been exposed to, they're all negative," Thirteen says. "It's gotta be something else."

"Lupus could cause…" Taub starts.

"No. Lupus progresses slower, there'd be joint pain," Trzaska says.

"What if it's not a typical case," Taub suggests. "We should get an ANA…"

"It's not lupus," Trzaska says firmly. "The symptoms don't match."

"And the tests don't match heavy metals," Foreman says. Again, all of their pagers beep and they rush off. Trzaska stares at the symptoms on the whiteboard and pops a vicodin. After lingering for a moment he follows the rest of the team downstairs.

The team, sans Trzaska, reaches Lzzy's room where Mark and Arejay are. Lzzy is sitting up in bed and turning blue.

"It's happening again, she's not breathing," Arejay shouts.

Chase is the first to look in Lzzy's mouth. "Tongue swelling, airway's closing; she's not getting any air."

Thirteen is listening to her lungs with a stethoscope. "Her lungs are clear."

"We're gonna have to intubate," Chase says dropping the headrest so Lzzy is lying flat. "Gotta relax Lzzy, this is gonna help you breathe," Chase says trying to place the tube. Lzzy suddenly starts to vomit.

"Oh, my God," Arejay shouts putting his hands on his head.

"She's gonna aspirate, she needs suction," Chase shouts.

"What's happening," Mark asks.

"Suction," Taub shouts. One of the nurses finally gets some suction in Lzzy's mouth.

Trzaska limps in checking on what's going on.

"There's too much vomit, we're never gonna be able to intubate," Chase says. "We need to trach her!" A nurse brings over the kit to perform a tracheotomy.

"She's not breathing," Mark shouts. Chase is about to make the incision when Trzaska grabs his arm stopping him.

"Adam she can't breathe," Chase shouts.

"So intubate her," Trzaska says. Lzzy is still struggling and vomiting.

"She'll aspirate," Taub rebuts.

"You cut into her throat her career is over," Trzaska says grabbing the trachea tube from one of the nurses and moves to the head of Lzzy's bed. "More suction. Suction damn it!" Trzaska takes the suction wand from the nurse and does it himself.

"We're out of time," Thirteen says.

Trzaska pulls the suction wand out, throws it on the ground and quickly slips the trachea tube in place. "Got it." Lzzy's body relaxes and she begins to breathe normally. After a minute her color starts to come back. Thirteen starts collecting a sample of the vomit to do testing.

Trzaska leaves the room without saying anything. Chase and the others begin getting Lzzy stabilized while Foreman walks out, following Trzaska. Foreman catches up to him. "Her urine has elevated proteins and red blood cells," Foreman says. "It's lupus-induced kidney failure. If we don't start treatment…"

"Heavy metal toxicity could cause vomiting," Trzaska says.

"So would lupus nephritis," Foreman argues. "And it also causes tissue swelling. I thought you were going to defer to me on this."

"I changed my mind since she's choking on her tongue not her feet," Trzaska says.

"The corticosteroids we gave her should control the inflammation and can cause facial swelling," Foreman says.

"Still not her throat, but you're getting closer," Trzaska says.

"We're doing an ANA and a serum complement," Foreman says.

"If you're so sure, why waste time with tests, just start treatment," Trzaska asks stopping in the hallway. His voice raising as he's getting frustrated. "Oh no, wait, you can't do that, because we already have and it's not working, ergo…"

"Cortical steroids aren't the only treatment for lupus nephritis," Foreman says. "We can also try cyclophosphamide or immunosuppressants! "

"Only if we confirm the diagnosis with an ANA, serum complement, anti-DNA, IV pyelogramic kidney biopsy," Trzaska says.

"So now you suddenly believe in tests," Foreman asks.

"The symptoms…" Trzaska starts but is interrupted by Foreman.

"The symptoms all point to heavy metal poisoning. Yeah, we all get it," Foreman says. "Unless you've got proof and can tell me which heavy metal it is, I'm starting treatment for lupus."

Trzaska doesn't respond and limps away to go think.

A short while later Foreman is in Lzzy's room to start the new treatment. Lzzy's still intubated and on oxygen to help her breathe. Arejay is missing again but Mark is sitting at Lzzy's bedside.

"Systemic lupus erythematosus causes the immune system to become hyperactive, attack normal tissue," Foreman explains. "It could be what caused the lung inflammation as well as the swelling in her throat, and now what appears to be damage to her kidneys. The treatment's usually steroids."

"But she's already on steroids," Mark says.

"If the tests confirm we're on the right track there are other medications we can try," Foreman says.

"And if those don't work," Mark asks.

"Well, lupus, it's a chronic condition, but it's generally controllable," Foreman says.

"What do you mean, generally," Mark asks.

"In rare cases, it can cause cardiovascular or renal failure," Foreman says.

"Cardiovascular and renal, that's the heart and the kidneys, right," Mark asks.

"Yeah," Foreman says.

Mark squeezes Lzzy's hand. Her eyes and her face tell that she's scared. "Don't worry hunny, it'll be alright," Mark says. "What does Dr. Trzaska think?"

"Lupus is our best explanation with what's going on with Lzzy," Foreman says.

Mark nods having no other option.


	23. In Charge Part 3

Disclaimer: House and all respective characters do not belong to me. I am only borrowing them for personal enjoyment.

Also I am not a doctor so I have decided to borrow cases used earlier in the show for medical accuracy. My creativity comes in with building and developing character relationships as well as introducing original characters. Criticism and reviews are most welcome. Hope you enjoy.

* * *

Meanwhile Trzaska is back at his apartment helping Amelia back into bed. Ryoko jumps up on the bed and lays her head down in Amelia's lap.

"How're you feeling," Trzaska asks.

"A little better," Amelia says. "Not feeling so winded anymore."

"That's good. And the fever," Trzaska asks.

"It comes and goes," she responds.

Trzaska hands her a glass of water and sits down on the side of the bed next to Amelia. He glances at the t.v. It's a Law and Order SVU show.

"What would you do if you got herpes," Fin asks Munch. "My guess is she suspected that her husband had also been playing the pickle games, she'd just keep it on the down-low. Just wait 'till he got infected."

"Could you give your own wife herpes just to shift the blame," Munch asks.

"It could have been the husband," Trzaska says to Amelia, interrupting the show. "Maybe he was the one who…" Trzaska's voice trails off. He's figured out what's wrong with his patient.

Amelia looks over at Trzaska and notices the odd look on his face. "I'm fine. Go." She leans over and kisses his cheek. Trzaska almost jumps up from the bed and leaves the apartment.

When Trzaska arrives back at the hospital he finds Thirteen performing an MRI on Lzzy. She's no longer intubated and is breathing well on her own.

"Where's the fiancé," Trzaska asks.

"He's waiting outside, why," Thirteen asks.

"Go search him," Trzaska says.

"What, you mean his medical records," Thirteen asks.

"If I'd meant that, good chance I'd have said that," Trzaska snipes.

"You think he's poisoning her," Thirteen asks.

"Her symptoms should be getting better the longer she's here, instead they're getting worse," Trzaska reasons.

"So either he's poisoning her, or it's not heavy metals," Thirteen asks. "We've done over ten heavy metal tox screens…"

"Because there's no reason to test for the other thirty," Trzaska interrupts. "They don't get into the air or food, they only get in you if someone puts them in you. The only way we're going to find out what he's been sprinkling on her corn flakes is to search him."

"I am not going to accuse a man of trying to murder his fiancé simply based on some paranoid theory," Thirteen says.

"It's the only explanation," Trzaska says. "We've eliminated every other possibility."

"We have not eliminated every other possibility," Thirteen says.

"Has she responded to the latest lupus treatment," Trzaska asks.

"She's only been on it for a few hours," Thirteen states.

"She hasn't responded because it's not lupus! It's not allergies, ALS, arthritis or sarcoidosis," Trzaska says. "He's all that's left."

Thirteen doesn't move. Trzaska groans and leaves the MRI room. He finds Mark in the waiting room. "Hi, I'm Dr. Trzaska. Mind if I take a look in your pockets?"

"Why," Mark asks.

"Because I'm going to need to search you for whatever you're using to poison your fiancé," Trzaska replies.

"Why would I want to hurt my fiancé," Mark asks.

"Then you won't mind if I search your things," Trzaska says.

"Go ahead," Mark says. Turning out all of his pockets including the jacket and shirt he's wearing. "You satisfied?"

Moments later, Trzaska and Thirteen are in Cuddy's office.

"Absolutely not," Cuddy says.

"He agreed to let me search everywhere else, but this he says no to," Trzaska says. "Doesn't that tell you something?"

"Yes, that he doesn't want some lunatic doctor searching his rectum with a flashlight," Cuddy replies.

"Thirteen can do that," Trzaska suggests.

"I am not going to…" Thirteen starts but is interrupted by Trzaska.

"The man hasn't left the hospital since he arrived," Trzaska states. "Whatever he's using he's obviously hiding somewhere."

"He's not poisoning her," Thirteen shouts.

"It's the only explanation," Trzaska shouts back.

"No, it's the only explanation your twisted mind can come up with because you're angry that you can't find the answer and you're taking it out on him," Thirteen says. "You're acting just like House would."

"And you are protecting a complete stranger based on some childishly romantic notion that people who are engaged don't want to kill each other," Trzaska says.

"Are you calling me childish," Thirteen asks.

"Grow up," Trzaska shouts.

"Shut up. Both of you," Cuddy shouts ending the bickering. "And stay away from the husband. Sorry, I'm not giving you permission to assault someone."

Later, Chase, Thirteen, and Mark are walking down a hall. Arejay is walking with them wheeling Lzzy. Trzaska is watching them from the nurses' station and bouncing his cane. Wilson notices him staring. He walks up to Trzaska and engages him. "Let's see…I'm thinking Colonel Mustard, in the music room, with the candlestick," Wilson says.

"There's no music room, it's the conservatory," Trzaska corrects not taking his eyes off Mark.

"Same thing," Wilson says jokingly.

"No, it isn't," Trzaska says still lost in thought. "If we don't find out what he's using, start treatment immediately, she'll be dead in a week."

"If you're right," Wilson says. "If Foreman's right, you'd have basically raped an innocent man."

"Oh, God," Arejay screams from Lzzy's room. Machines are beeping. "Oh, God, no!"

"Call a code," Chase says. Wilson and Trzaska look on. "Charging 360, give her epi! Clear!"

"Still no pulse," Thirteen says.

"Charging! Clear," Chase shouts.

"I got a pulse," Thirteen says. Lzzy's eyes remain closed. She's not responding even though her pulse is back up. Thirteen opens her eyelids and shines a pen light in them. "Pupils are reactive. You still with us?"

"She was without oxygen for less than a minute, can't be hypoxia," Chase says. "Could be a stroke."

"Can you hear me," Thirteen asks. Mark moves closer to Lzzy's bed.

"Back up," Chase says pulling Mark back away from Lzzy in case they needed to act.

"Lzzy, talk to me," Mark shouts. "Lzzy! Hunny, please! Lzzy catches her breath and moves her head slightly.

"Lzzy, can you hear me," Thirteen asks. Lzzy nods weakly.

"She's awake," Mark says relieved and sighs. He gets close to Lzzy's bedside again.

"Can you hear me," Thirteen asks again.

"Hun? Hi," Mark says emotionally, running his fingers through Lzzy's hair.

"Yes, he is quite the actor," Wilson says sarcastically.

Later, after they make sure Lzzy is stable, the team reconvenes in the diagnostics office.

Trzaska is sitting at the table with his head in his hands. "So, let's say he's not poisoning her." He looks up and rubs his forehead.

"There's nothing more to discuss," Foreman says. "We've got lung and kidney failure, neurological symptoms, and now cardiac arrest. A systemic disease with multi-organ involvement is the definition of lupus."

"Auto-immunosuppressants aren't helping," Thirteen states.

"We should start her on cyclophosphamide, see if it makes a difference," Chase suggests.

"Yeah, and interferon," Trzaska says.

"Interferon isn't an approved treatment for lupus," Taub states puzzled.

"You're not still thinking…" Thirteen starts.

"Interferon isn't an approved treatment for heavy metal toxicity, either," Chase interrupts.

"True. But it's pretty much the only thing we can do for a viral infection," Trzaska says. "We didn't consider it because it doesn't…"

"Because it doesn't make sense," Foreman says. "There's no fever!"

"Because she's got no immune system, thanks to the immunosuppressants you prescribed her for lupus treatment," Trzaska says.

"She didn't present with a fever, either," Chase remarks.

"Because at that point she was a post-viral autoimmune reaction, which again, thanks to the immunosuppressants you prescribed for lupus treatment, her immune system basically rolled out the red carpet for the dormant virus, waking it up, turning it into a present viral infection," Trzaska says. "Give her interferon."

"But if it is lupus, interferon could make it worse," Foreman says. "Suppress her bone marrow even further."

"Which is more likely, a rapidly progressing, acute onset lupus in a patient who's already on steroids or a team of doctors missing a post-viral reaction," Trzaska asks frustrated.

"We didn't miss anything," Foreman says stubbornly.

"Well, then, I'm wrong, and you shouldn't. Give her interferon," Trzaska shouts. "You said this is my case." Foreman stares at Trzaska for a moment and then gives in. He nods over at Chase who gets up and leaves to start the treatment.

Downstairs Chase is talking to Mark and Lzzy.

"Intravenous interferon has been shown to be effective against some viral infections," Chase says.

"But I thought you said it wasn't an infection," Mark says confused. "You said it was lupus!"

"The increasingly rapid progression of the symptoms has caused us to reconsider," Chase explains.

"And what if you're wrong here, too," Mark asks. "What if it's not a virus?"

"There are risks with interferon, especially in a patient who's already immunosuppressed," Chase states. He turns his attention to Lzzy. "Look, at this point your lungs, kidneys and heart are all failing. We really don't have any choice." Lzzy nods.

An hour later, Lzzy is hooked up to the IV interferon. Trzaska is looking on from out in the hall, monitoring her condition. Neither Mark nor Arejay notice he's there. Lzzy is asleep. Her face is pale and she has deep bags around her eyes making her look very frail. Mark is pacing the room. Arejay gets up from the chair he's sitting in, stretches and leaves the room going the opposite direction of where Trzaska is. Lzzy stirs and wakes up looking around her room. She notices Trzaska for a moment but then her attention turns to Mark. "Hi," she says weakly.

Mark hears Lzzy and walks over, sitting on her bedside. "Hi," he replies.

"I love you," Lzzy says.

"I know," Mark says smiling at her and brushing a strand of hair out of her face.

"Say it back," Lzzy pleads weakly.

"No," Mark replies.

"Why not," Lzzy asks puzzled.

"Cause you're gonna be fine," Mark says tearing up a little.

"Say it anyway," Lzzy says. Mark doesn't say anything. Lzzy dry swallows and looks hurt. "Why did you want to buy me dinner for spilling coffee on you?"

"What," Mark asks.

"The day we met," Lzzy says. "I offered to buy you coffee, pay for your dry cleaning, and you wanted to take me to dinner. Why?"

"You seemed interesting," Mark says.

"You didn't know who I was," Lzzy asks.

"Of course not," Mark answers.

Lzzy makes a face at Mark. "Of course you did," she says. "I knew you were lying. I saw the background on your phone. Halestorm logo."

"Okay so maybe I knew who you were and thought it was a good opportunity to meet you," Mark says.

"Why didn't you just say that," Lzzy asks.

"I was afraid you'd say no," Mark responds. "Big star like you, I didn't think you'd have time for someone like me."

"I'm sorry you think that little of me," Lzzy says and looks away from Mark.

Mark is speechless. He stutters trying to find something to say but just sighs and gets up. "I'm gonna go get some air," he says. Lzzy doesn't respond. Mark leaves her room and goes the same way Arejay did minutes earlier.

Lzzy looks back at the window where Trzaska was standing and finds he's still there. She smiles and waves at him. Trzaska smiles back and Lzzy waves him to come in. Trzaska sighs and slowly enters her room. "Anyone ever tell you that's creepy," Lzzy asks.

"Yes," Trzaska replies smiling. "You okay," he asks sitting on a stool near her bed.

Lzzy looks at the engagement ring on her finger and fidgets with it. "Yeah," she lies.

"Liar," Trzaska says calling her out. "It's okay though. You don't have to talk about it."

"I just wish he'd say he loved me more often," Lzzy says. "Without having to prompt him for it."

Trzaska nods. "Maybe he has a hard time speaking his mind when he's around someone as beautiful and charming as you are," he says smiling.

"I think you're the only charmer in this room Dr. Trzaska," Lzzy says and laughs, a small amount of color returning to her cheeks. She lays there quietly thinking for a moment. "Do you really think I have an infection?"

"No," he answers after a moment. "But right now that's our best guess." Trzaska puts his hand on Lzzy's shin trying to be reassuring, "Get some rest. Beautiful lady like you needs her beauty sleep." Lzzy laughs and Trzaska does as well as he gets up and limps out of her room. Lzzy smiles as her eyes follow him out until he disappears out of her sight. She settles herself in bed and closes her eyes trying to follow Trzaska's suggestion.

In another part of the hospital Foreman and Trzaska are stepping off the elevator together. They start walking through the front lobby, Trzaska's path set for Cuddy's office.

"Interferon's not working. Both her lungs and her kidneys are continuing to deteriorate," Foreman says.

"Up the dose," Trzaska says.

"We already have," Foreman states.

"Apparently not enough," Trzaska says.

"I don't think it's a virus," Foreman says thoughtfully. "We've been running titers for everything we could think of, they're all negative."

"Increase the interferon," Trzaska says.

"Trzaska…" Foreman pleads.

"You got a better idea, other than lupus," Trzaska asks as they reach Cuddy's office.

"No," Foreman says.

"Then up the dose," Trzaska says knocking three times and then opening the door. He limps over to one of the chairs in front of Cuddy and sits down.

Cuddy stops looking at the paperwork sitting in front of her. "Stuck," Cuddy asks.

Trzaska nods and bounces his cane. "How'd you know?"

"I've seen that look on your face before," Cuddy replies. "Figured you might need a little help. How's your patient?"

"She's dying," Trzaska says visibly upset by that statement.

"How's Foreman," Cuddy asks concerned.

"Good actually," Trzaska replies. "He's never intentionally got in my way. I mean, he's never pulled rank. He's been true to his word. This is MY case."

"How are things with you and…" Trzaska trails off not remembering the guy's name Cuddy is currently seeing.

"Jerry," Cuddy offers.

"Jerry, yes how is dear old Jerry," Trzaska says in his best Sean Connery voice and mimes smoking a pipe.

Cuddy can't help but laugh. "Boring," Cuddy says. "But that's not necessarily a bad thing." Cuddy picks up the pen she was using and tries to write with it. "How are things with Heather?" The pen doesn't work and she shakes it trying to get ink to the end of it.

"We're not seeing each other anymore," Trzaska answers.

Cuddy looks up suddenly with a sad and shocked look on her face. "I'm sorry to hear that. What happened," she asks.

"Just wasn't working out," Trzaska replies.

"Shame," Cuddy says. "She was good for you. I'm sorry it didn't work out."

"I'm not," Trzaska says.

"Well I'm sorry anyway," Cuddy says. She tries to write with the pen again and again is unsuccessful. "Damn pen. It runs out of ink so quickly," she says shaking her head.

"May I," Trzaska asks. Cuddy hands him the pen. He turns it over in his hands a few times and feels it. "Nice weight to it."

"Hospital gave it to me as a present when I got that insurance premium increase a few years back," Cuddy says.

"Ah yes, I remember you telling me about that," Trzaska says continuing to turn the pen over on his fingers. He suddenly stops and looks at the pen in a new light. "Is this gold," Trzaska asks.

"Gold plated," Cuddy replies. "Why?" Trzaska grins, tosses the pen back to Cuddy who catches it, gets up, and quickly heads for the door. "I expect a third of the credit," she says smiling as Trzaska leaves her office.


	24. In Charge Part 4

Disclaimer: House and all respective characters do not belong to me. I am only borrowing them for personal enjoyment.

Also I am not a doctor so I have decided to borrow cases used earlier in the show for medical accuracy. My creativity comes in with building and developing character relationships as well as introducing original characters. Criticism and reviews are most welcome. Hope you enjoy.

**A/N: Towards the end of the chapter have Halestorm's "Break In" ready to play so you get full effect.** **  
**

* * *

Trzaska heads to the parking garage and picks up his cell phone dialing Thirteen.

"He has a family history of arthritis, doesn't he," Trzaska asks when she answers.

"Yeah, he does," Thirteen says from the other end of the phone. "What does…"

"Stop the interferon. Do another heavy metal screen, only this time test for gold," Trzaska says straddling his bike.

"You don't still think that he…" Thirteen starts.

"And don't let him go to the bathroom," Trzaska says and then hangs up the phone just before starting up his bike and speeding off through the garage.

"Why would you care if he…hello," Thirteen hangs up realizing Trzaska hung up on her. She leans over to Chase who is standing next to her and whispers to him.

Meanwhile, Trzaska is speeding towards home on his motorcycle.

Back at PPTH Chase prints out test results. He passes them to Foreman, who looks surprised.

Trzaska finally arrives at his apartment and rushes into his bedroom startling Amelia. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," he says getting on all fours and reaching under his bed. Ryoko looks at Trzaska from the bed and grumbles at Trzaska for having woken her up.

"Are you okay," Amelia asks rubbing her eyes.

"Fine," Trzaska says groaning and pulling a small wooden box from under the bed. "You?"

"WAS sleeping just fine," Amelia says. "How's your patient?"

"About to be a lot better," Trzaska says. He quickly opens the box and paws through the numerous small bottles inside. Pocketing the desired bottle, Trzaska stands up and kisses Amelia's forehead. "Go back to sleep." Amelia smiles and shakes her head as Trzaska leaves in the same hurried fashion he arrived in.

Back at the hospital, outside Lzzy's room, Mark is arguing with Thirteen, who won't let him go to the bathroom. Lzzy is passed out and doesn't hear anything.

"Fine, then I'll go to one on another floor," Mark says.

"Actually, they're not working there either," Thirteen says.

"Every bathroom in the whole hospital is out of order," Mark asks.

"Well, there, um, the water…" Thirteen stammers trying to come up with a good lie.

Arejay walks by eating some french fries and looks between Mark and Thirteen who are at a standoff. "What's going on?"

"I'm going to the bathroom," Mark says and pushes his way past Thirteen.

"What was that about," Arejay asks pushing another french fry in his mouth and walking into Lzzy's room.

Meanwhile Trzaska arrives back at the hospital looking for Mark. He steps out of the elevator on the ICU floor. He sees Thirteen and Chase standing in the hall. "Where is he," Trzaska asks.

"He had to go to the bathroom," Thirteen sighs.

"I told you not to let him," Trzaska says now limping faster towards the bathroom.

"What was I supposed to do? Tie him up," Thirteen asks.

"Why not," Trzaska asks. He tosses his cane to Chase and works on opening the bottle while limping into the bathroom.

As they arrive in the bathroom a toilet flushes. Mark opens the door of the stall he was using. He finds Trzaska standing in front of him. "What are you doing," Mark asks. Trzaska grabs his hand. "Why is your hand wet?"

"Sorry, must be nervous. I have some bad news," Trzaska says still holding Mark's hand.

"What," Mark asks looking very uncomfortable.

"The damage to your fiancé's lungs is permanent," Trzaska says. "Kidney damage is reversible and with the right therapy she should regain full neurological function. Other than the fact that she's not going to be running any marathons, she's going to be fine."

"But that's good news, isn't it," Mark asks.

"I'm not finished," Trzaska says. He's still holding Mark's hand and firmly backs him up against one of the stalls. He gives Mark a stern gaze as he talks. "When I was a kid, my dad was stationed at an army base in Egypt. We were in the middle of nowhere and there was absolutely nothing for a kid to do except look for a mummy's tomb."

"You didn't want me to go to the bathroom because you wanted to tell me my fiancé is going to be fine and that you used to live in Egypt," Mark asks.

"I didn't have a problem with you going to the bathroom," Trzaska says. "I just didn't want you to wash your hands." Mark gets a confused look on his face. "I never actually did find a mummy, but I did learn a fair amount about the ancient Egyptians. For example, they discovered that stannous chloride is not only great for toughening ruby glass, but if it's mixed with gold, it turns bright purple." He turns over Mark's hand, which is turning purple. "Now, either your fingers are actually worth their weight in gold, or you've been sprinkling your fiancé's cereal with gold sodium thiomalate." Mark's eyes go wide. "It's an arthritis remedy. It's rarely used here in the US, but it's still popular in Mexico. I've gotta give you props. I've never heard of anyone using gold before. It's almost…poetic."

"That's ridiculous," Mark says.

"Heavy metal tox screen for gold was off the chart," Chase says staring at Mark.

"Why would I…" Mark asks.

"Because you were trying to kill her, I'd love to know the why behind that why," Trzaska says. "But you're not going to tell me, are you?"

"You're wrong. I love Lzzy," Mark says.

"I never said you didn't love her," Trzaska says.

Trzaska, Thirteen, and Chase leave the bathroom and call security. Foreman and Taub meet the rest of the group outside the bathroom and they all walk down the hall together.

"Why would somebody do that," Thirteen asks. "Sit by somebody's bedside day and night, helping them, comforting them, and at the same time killing them?"

"Maybe she was having an affair," Foreman suggests.

Chase looks preposterously at Foreman. "Maybe he was having an affair."

"Or maybe he just gets his kicks from slowly sucking the life out of a woman and watching her suffer," Trzaska says.

"She must have done something to him," Foreman says.

"Yeah, she had it coming," Trzaska retorts.

"I didn't say she deserved it," Foreman iterates.

"The only thing she did wrong was get engaged to a sociopath," Chase says.

"Or maybe he just got tired of being with her, Trzaska theorizes. "Didn't want to admit to family and friends that the engagement wasn't as perfect as everyone thought it was. Or maybe it was for the money. Who knows."

"Shouldn't one of us stay with him," Taub suggests. "If he tries to run…"

"Yeah, Chase, go back there," Trzaska says. Everyone looks at him funny as to why he picked Chase. "Well, it would be weird if we were all in the men's room, especially Thirteen." Trzasks limps over to the elevator and gets on pushing the button for the floor Lzzy's on.

A short while later Mark is led away in handcuffs as Cuddy and Thirteen watch.

Trzaska is standing outside Lzzy's room watching her sleep. Her brother Arejay is sitting by her bed holding her hand. Trzaska is lost in thought as he sees them and thinks about his own sister's illness. Trzaska sees Foreman's reflection next to his in the window. "Nice job," Foreman says. "We started chelation therapy with dimercaprol."

"Awesome," Trzaska says.

"Her kidney function hasn't improved," Foreman states.

"It will," Trzaska says.

"She's gonna need a lung transplant," Foreman says.

"She'll get it," Trzaska says confidently. "And she'll go on rocking the house." Trzaska mimes handing the reins back to Foreman. "Was fun while it lasted," he says smiling at Foreman. Foreman grins back at Trzaska and walks away. Trzaska continues to look through the window.

A week later Trzaska opens the door to Lzzy's room. Her entire band is there laughing and enjoying things. They're all wearing Santa hats except Lzzy who is holding hers in her lap. "Hey look who it is," Arejay jumps up from the chair he was sitting in and runs over to Trzaska pulling him into a tight hug and kissing him on the cheek. The Santa hat he's wearing falling in Trzaska's face. "Thank you," he says seriously. "I always had faith."

"Faith," Trzaska mutters under his breath. "Just wanted to see how those new lungs were treating you," he says looking over at Lzzy.

"Pretty good," she says. "Don't think I'm up for singing just yet but I'll get there."

"Hey Lzzy, we're gonna go get some food in the cafeteria," Arejay says. Each of the band members shakes Trzaska's hand on their way out, leaving Trzaska and Lzzy alone. Lzzy fidgets in her bed.

"So you're doing good," Trzaska asks.

"Give me a month or so and I'll express my gratitude properly," Lzzy teases winking at him. "But for now I just want to say thank you."

"And how are you doing…emotionally," Trzaska asks sitting on the bed next to Lzzy.

"Okay I guess," Lzzy says. "Just trying to figure out what exactly happened. What did I do? Where did I go wrong?"

"You didn't do anything wrong," Trzaska says. "Sometimes it's just…love bites."

"Love bites," Lzzy repeats and nods her head. "But so do I," she says and playfully snaps her teeth at Trzaska. "Hey that sounds like a good song title."

"I think you're right," he says smiling. His smile fades a little. "Lzzy, some people are just screwed up, some you can't help."

"You know that from personal experience," Lzzy asks. Trzaska just nods. "I'm sorry. Girlfriend?"

Trzaska nods again. "A long time ago. Suicide."

Lzzy is silent for a moment. "Well at least I have a lot to write about now," she says smiling. "Speaking of which, any chance of hearing one of your songs?"

Trzaska thinks for a moment. "Hold that thought," he says leaving. After a few moments he returns, wheeling a keyboard in Lzzy's room. He pulls it up to the foot of her bed and takes the footrest off. Sitting down Trzaska places his fingers and starts to play. (Think of the piano from Evanescence's Hello.)

Lzzy sits up in bed as Trzaska plays and listens intently. Her expression clear that the music is moving her. Lzzy is quiet for a moment as Trzaska stops playing. "Can I tell you a secret," she asks.

Trzaska turns around and looks at her. "Sure," he says.

"Come closer, I don't want anyone else to hear," Lzzy says wagging her finger towards her.

Trzaska bends toward Lzzy as she requests. Lzzy slowly leans in and kisses his lips gently. After a moment their lips part. "I loved it. And thank you for saving my life," she says.

"You're welcome," Trzaska says.

"Keep an eye out for an invitation for a more complete thank you," Lzzy says.

"Yes ma'am," Trzaska says as he slowly gets up and leaves. He runs into Arejay and the rest of the band in the hall.

"Hey man, seriously thank you," Arejay says.

"My pleasure," Trzaska says. "Your sister…she's something special…take care of her."

Arejay nods and looks past Trzaska through the window at Lzzy. "You have a sister," Arejay asks.

"Yeah, one just as precious," Trzaska replies.

"They are something special aren't they," Arejay says. "Anyway…" he claps Trzaska on the shoulder. "…we've got a big thank you planned. Don't mention it to your colleagues, this is just for you. And bring your sister along too."

"No I couldn't…" Trzaska starts.

"Listen, I'm not taking no for an answer," Arejay says. "We've all talked it over and even Lzzy agrees. We've already started working on it. Just keep your ear to the ground."

The band all walk past Trzaska joking and laughing as they disappear into Lzzy's room. Trzaska smiles and limps down the hall.

One month later, Trzaska is backstage at the McCarter Theatre Center at a makeup concert for the one Lzzy was sick at. He's standing behind a wheelchair that Amelia is sitting in. She has an oxygen tank hooked up to the wheelchair that she has to use from time to time.

Halestorm just finished playing 'Familiar Taste of Poison'. "Thank you," Lzzy says to the crowd as a piano is wheeled out on stage. She takes a seat and sets her microphone into the stand on the piano. "We really love you New Jersey and we're glad you came out to see us. It means so much to us for you all to be here." The crowd cheers in response. "I'm gonna play a new song for you. I just wrote this song a few weeks ago. For those of you who don't know I was very sick last month. The truth is I almost died." The crowd reacts negatively to this statement. "But I'm here and I'm okay, and it's thanks to this one guy that I'm alive. And I wrote this for him. He saved my life, and I wanted to tell him how important that is to me. This one's called 'Break In'."

Put your lighter in the air and lead me back home  
When it's all said and done and follow where the air goes  
I hear you night after night calling out my name  
And I'm finding myself running to meet you  
I didn't want to escape  
From the bricks that I laid down

You are the only one  
The only one to tease me  
That trusts me and believes me  
You are the only one  
The only one that knows me  
And in the dark you show me  
It's perfectly reckless  
Damn you leave me defenseless  
So break in  
Break in

You let me fall apart without letting go  
Then you pick up the pieces and you make me whole  
I didn't want to escape  
From the bricks that I laid down

Lzzy looks over at the side of the stage where Trzaska is standing and smiles at him.

You are the only one  
The only one to tease me  
That trusts me and believes me  
You are the only one  
The only one that knows me  
And in the dark you show me  
It's perfectly reckless  
Damn you leave me defenseless  
So break in

And take everything I have  
Until there is nothing left  
Until it's just your voice in my head  
And when the lights come on  
You see me as I am  
You're still inside me

You are the only one  
The only one to tease me  
That trusts me and believes me  
You are the only one  
The only one that knows me  
And in the dark you show me  
It's perfectly reckless  
Damn you leave me defenseless  
So break in  
Break in

Put your lighter in the air and lead me back home

"Thank you Adam," Lzzy says and is joined by the rest of her band who bows to the crowd and winks in the direction Trzaska is standing. "Let's keep this party going," Lzzy shouts. Halestorm plays two more songs ending with 'I Get Off'. They come off stage and each give Trzaska a strong hug. "Is this Amelia," Lzzy asks standing next to Trzaska. He nods and Lzzy kneels down next to Amelia and holds her hands in hers. "Thank you for sharing your brother with me. I'm alive because of him."

Amelia tears up a little and smiles at Lzzy. "He's pretty great isn't he?"

"One of a kind," Lzzy says. Trzaska is distracted by Arejay who's going on about some crazy shots they should take in celebration. Seeing that Amelia's actually very sad, Lzzy wheels Amelia further down the hall towards the back without Trzaska noticing. "What's wrong hun," Lzzy asks kneeling back down in front of Amelia.

"I don't think I have much time left," Amelia says wiping her face with her sleeve. Lzzy frowns at Amelia and looks back at Trzaska. "I'm sorry." Amelia fumbles for her oxygen mask and turns the valve on trying to catch her breath.

"Let me help," Lzzy says helping Amelia put the oxygen mask on her face. "You know my brother's pretty awesome too. He's really good company."

"I…have…no doubt…" Amelia says smiling.

"Do you…mind…if he keeps you company…while I borrow your brother one more time," Lzzy asks a little embarrassed.

Amelia's hand reaches for Lzzy's. "Please…do…" she smiles weakly. Lzzy can feel how weak Amelia's grip is.

Trzaska, Arejay, and the others head over to where Lzzy and Amelia are. "Everything okay," Trzaska asks not seeing Amelia yet.

"Just having some girl talk," Lzzy responds. "Amelia said she was feeling a little winded, but she's fine now.

Trzaska darts forward to Amelia's side but she puts her hand on his and looks into his eyes. "I'm fine…let's have some fun…" Trzaska smiles back at her.

Arejay gets behind Amelia taking control of her wheelchair. "How often do you pop wheelies in this thing," he asks Amelia jokingly. She laughs and Arejay wheels her down the hall. "Let's go find some ice cream."

"So how was the concert, Lzzy asks Trzaska who's leaning against a wall watching Amelia and laughing at Arejay. "What? Oh the concert. It was great. YOU sounded great."

"Not really, but I'll take it as a compliment anyway," Lzzy says smiling. "I'll be back to one hundred percent soon enough. I hope you liked your song."

"I did," Trzaska admits looking at Lzzy. "Thank you."

"It's nothing," Lzzy says. "The least I can do for you saving my life. And," she wraps her arms around Trzaska's neck. "I have one final surprise for you. I'm leaving Jersey tomorrow and I want to go out with a bang." She leans in and kisses Trzaska gently. "What do you say?"

"I don't…" Trzaska starts.

"It's not just a fancy," Lzzy defends. "I feel connected to you. You are the only one in that hospital that really cared for me. So naturally I developed feelings for you. I want to share those with you. Even if it's just once."

"I barely spent any time with you," Trzaska says.

"Yes but you were there at the most important times," Lzzy replies. "I refuse to believe that was just dumb luck."

"But…Amel…" Trzaska starts.

"She's in good hands for a few hours. Trust me," Lzzy says. She leans in and kisses Trzasks gently again. "So?" Trzaska kisses back and nods. "Good." Lzzy leads Trzaska down the hall, holding hands with him. "So the real question now is, do you like the heels on or off?" She laughs and puts her arm around Trzaska's back. He does the same to her and Lzzy leans her head on Trzaska's shoulder. They stop in front of a room with Halestorm's name on it and Lzzy leans against the door. She grabs the collar of Trzaska's jacket in each hand and pulls him in for another kiss, this one more passionate. Lzzy turns the handle and backs up through the door pulling Trzaska with her while lip locked. For the next thirty minutes, soft moans can be heard from the through the door and faintly travel down the hall.

* * *

**A/N: I just want to take this moment to thank the presence of Halestorm in my fanfic. I meant the utmost respect by using them as characters in my interpretation of the House Universe and acknowledge that I do not own their music or rights to their band. I have the utmost respect for Lzzy, Arejay, Josh, and Joe as musicians and as people and intended no disrespect in the way they were portrayed.**

**Okay, hope you've enjoyed thus far. Look for more to come. And as always please leave your thoughts and comments. I love reading them and I'm beyond thrilled that others enjoy this as much as I do. Thank you for reading this far.**


	25. All By Myself Part 1

Disclaimer: House and all respective characters do not belong to me. I am only borrowing them for personal enjoyment.

Also I am not a doctor so I have decided to borrow cases used earlier in the show for medical accuracy. My creativity comes in with building and developing character relationships as well as introducing original characters. Criticism and reviews are most welcome. Hope you enjoy.

**A/N: My apologies for this update being slow. School has consumed all of my time and I have had little free time to work on this. Very proud of this next series though. As usual please read and review so I know how this grabs you. A new character Kaycee is played by the lovely Anna Kendrick.**

* * *

It's a cold February afternoon in Princeton. A woman in her early thirties with blonde hair, wearing a black running suit named Julie climbs a couple of rows to the top of the bleachers, facing away from the field. Behind her are ten overweight men in red hoodies and black pants. They are climbing the stairs, going past Julie as she films a commercial.

"Do you want a lean body for summer," Julie says to the camera. "Well, the time to start is now. No gimmicks, no crash diets, and absolutely no drugs. Think healthy and be healthy. You can start now. Just pick up the phone and become the best you, you can be."

As Ted, a heavy man, reaches her, sweating profusely, he falls. The rest of the group in red keeps climbing. "Ohh," Ted shouts.

"Cut! Going again," the director of the commercial barks irritated.

"Sorry, did I mess up the commercial," Ted asks.

"No, it's fine. Are you okay," Julie asks bending down to check on Ted.

"Ah, I think it's cramps," Ted says. "Oh, I have burning on my side."

"Sit down, take a few minutes, and catch your breath," Julie says. "Everybody else keep running!" Some of the extras have reached the top of the stadium. They turn and pass Julie on the way down.

"We're not filming," the director says to Julie.

"We don't do this for the cameras. We do it for ourselves," Julie says loudly so the exercisers can hear her.

The director speaks quietly, to Julie. "We can't go again with him sitting there."

"Fine, um, but that felt phony," Julie whispers back. "At least let me get a little workout. Maybe if I'm breathing as hard as they are, I won't seem like such an evil task master."

"All right," the director says to Julie. "Take five, guys," the director calls out to his crew.

Julie pulls some of her hair back behind her ear. "How you feeling," she asks Ted, bending down to his level.

"I think I'm ready to do this," Ted says nodding and wiping his forehead.

"You sure," Julie asks. Ted stands. "That's it," Julie says. "That's the way to fight through." She gets into position and starts walking up the bleachers next to him. "All right, concentrate on those knees. Lean into it. And lift."

"Lifting," Ted says.

"Come on, push it," Julie shouts encouragingly.

"Lifting," Ted repeats as he continues to climb the bleachers.

"Come on, you're almost at the top," Julie says. "Those eight steps are the difference between fat and thin. Seven, six, five, four! One more! Nice job!" Ted reaches the top and throws his arms high in celebration. "You feel that burn? That's your body carving out its new shape."

"Okay," Ted says smiling and breathing heavily.

"Don't sit. Just take it slow on the way down," Julie says.

Ted whispers to himself. "Oh, boy." He walks down a couple of steps until he is abreast with Julie. She looks a little spacy. "Are you okay?"

Julie falls over and rolls down the bleachers. She comes to a stop where the camera crew is sitting. The lighting guy pulls a light stand away. The crew and Ted group around her. "Julie, are you okay," the director questions as he shakes her. "Julie. Julie!"

Later that day around midnight, Trzaska limps into a patient's room and closes the door behind him. He looks down at the woman in the bed in front of him and blinks back tears. He limps closer and watches as Amelia struggles to breathe. "I can't…sleep…" Amelia says. "It…hurts…" Trzaska nods and unlocks the morphine pump. He increases the drip rate and then shuts the door. As he slowly sits in the chair next to Amelia's bed, Trzaska notes how much weight Amelia had lost. Her cheek bones were prominent and her arms were frail looking. He sat next to her and held her hand as he watched her eyelids slowly droop and finally close. A few hours go by and Trzaska looks up at a clock on the wall, it reads 3:42. He closes his eyes and starts to drift as the sounds of the pulse monitor finally lull Trzaska to sleep.

Around nine that morning, Foreman arrives in the ddx room. He hangs up his coat and walks over to the corner making himself a cup of coffee. Taking a sip, he walks next door into his office and picks up a few files on his desk. As he starts to walk back towards the ddx room Chase and Taub walk in with cups of coffee in hand.

"You should stop complaining," Chase chastises. "Isn't this what you wanted? You get to have sex with more than one woman and you have children."

"Actually Rachel met someone else and when Ruby found out I got Rachel pregnant too, she stopped talking to me," Taub whined. Overhearing the conversation Foreman chuckles as he opens the door and walks back into the ddx room. Chase and Taub take their usual seats across from each other.

"We have a case boss," Chase asks Foreman.

Foreman nods while taking a sip of coffee and tosses the stack of files onto the table. "Thirty-one year old fitness trainer suddenly can't breathe, collapses and breaks her ankle."

Chase picks up one while Taub picks up another. At this time Thirteen walks in with her own cup of coffee and picks up a file from the table. "What's the case," she questions.

"Fitness trainer who passed out from exercising," Chase replies. "Normal CT means that her lung problem has the distinction of having nothing to do with her lungs."

Taub looks at a photo from the file, "Steroids. No one looks this fit without cheating. Anabolic steroids hack away at the immune system, leaves her open to a pulmonary infection."

"She's not on steroids," Foreman says. "Her program's all about getting in shape naturally, exercising, eating right."

"And you know this because," Taub asks.

"Unfortunately I'm up late a lot," Foreman replies. "She has infomercials to sell her DVDs."

"And you actually believe what you see on TV," Thirteen asks.

"The labs indicate no sign of steroid use," Foreman says. "Might help if you read the file before you make assumptions," he snipes sarcastically.

"What about allergies," Chase suggests. "She goes jogging every morning. Inhales car fumes during rush hour."

"Perfect, except that she was jogging half a mile from the nearest road," Foreman says. "In the cold. Cold air hits the lungs, sets off an attack. It's exercise-induced asthma."

"The only good way to test for EIA is to recreate the conditions in which the attack occurred," Thirteen says. "But we can't exactly make her run out in the cold on a broken ankle."

"Get creative," Foreman says. A moment later he looks down at his watch, it reads 9:48. "Has anyone heard from Trzaska?"

The group all shake their head, not knowing where Trzaska is. "Not a word," Chase answers. "Taub and I asked him to go out with us Friday night but he said he was tired and was going to call it an early night."

"That doesn't sound like Trzaska," Thirteen says. "He's usually the first to want to party. I don't think I could decide who's worse, him or Chase."

"Ouch, that smarts," Chase says.

Foreman walks over to the phone near the computer and picks it up dialing Trzaska's number. After a moment Foreman hangs up. "It goes straight to voicemail," Foreman says "Go recreate the attack." Everyone gets up and files out of the ddx room. Foreman picks up the phone again and dials the number for Cuddy's office. "It's Foreman, have you spoken to Trzaska this weekend?"

"No," Cuddy says leaning back in her chair. "He's not in yet?"

"Not yet," Foreman replies. "The rest of the team hasn't heard from him either."

"I'll see if I can find anything out," Cuddy says and hangs up the line. She picks up on a new line and dials Trzaska's number. It goes straight to voicemail.

As the team walks down the hall Chase pulls his cell phone out and presses four. He waits for the party to answer.

"Who are you calling," Taub asks.

"Adam," Chase answers while he waits for Trzaska's voicemail to finish. "If you were this late to work would you answer if your boss was calling you?"

"I wouldn't," Thirteen replies.

"Hey Adam it's Robert, call me." Chase hangs up as the elevator doors open and walks in behind his colleagues. "Hope he's all right," Chase comments. "It's not like him to be late let alone this late."

"Remember what happened the last time he didn't come to work," Thirteen says as the elevator doors shut.

Later in a refrigerated room in the morgue, Chase and Taub are wearing overcoats while Julie is wearing just her hospital gown. She is using an arm bike machine and is hooked up to a blood pressure monitor.

"Any shortness of breath? Tightness in your chest," Taub asks.

"Feeling pretty good actually," Julie answers.

"Not even breathing hard," Chase says sighing. "O2 stats and lung capacity are still well within range."

"Your cuff's slipping down. You want to stop for a moment," Taub asks.

"I'd rather not. Haven't had any exercise in two days," Julie responds.

"Take it you don't get a lot of fat in your diet," Taub comments.

"I take it from your tone you think that's a bad thing," Julie states.

"Do you ever indulge," Taub asks.

"Ha. There's more to life than indulging your every whim," Julie says.

"I didn't say every," Taub says. "But a whim every now and then can make life a little…"

"You okay? Trouble breathing," Chase asks a little worried.

Julie has the same spacy look she had before she fell. "No, I feel fine. Why?" She suddenly falls over. Taub catches her while Chase gets an Ambu bag.

Taub checks her neck. "No pulse. This isn't asthma."

Chase picks up the phone on the wall and dials the nurses' station. "Page Dr. Hadley," Chase says just before hanging up.

After several minutes Thirteen arrives, the three doctors get Julie stabilized and back to her room. On the way out Chase checks his phone. "Still no word from Adam," Chase says.

"You guys got this right," Thirteen asks randomly.

"Where are you going," Taub questions.

"To go check on another patient," Thirteen says. "A friend of mine was in a car accident a couple days ago. I just want to see how she's doing."

"Ok, we'll meet you upstairs then," Chase replies. He and Taub walk down the hall towards the elevator to go back upstairs.

Thirteen turns down a different hall and walks towards the other end of the ICU. She checks in with her friend, a blonde twenty-six year old, who is making a good recovery. "Hey Victoria, how are you doing," Thirteen asks with a big smile on her face.

"Great," Victoria replies with an equally large smile. "No broken bones, and no internal injuries. Dr. Regan says I can go home tomorrow. You'll come and see me off right?"

"You know it," Thirteen says putting her hands in her pockets. "Glad you're okay. How's Ben doing?"

"He's good, got a new job recently," Victoria says. "Better benefits, larger salary, and a lot more free time to give Momma some lovin'," she says winking at Thirteen.

"I never thought I would see you with a man," Thirteen says chuckling. "You used to know your way around a woman's body like no other. But I'm glad you're happy."

"Yeah, I am," Victoria says.

Thirteen nods and smiles, "I'll see ya tomorrow." Thirteen leaves the room and walks down the hall towards the elevator. On her way she glances into a few of the rooms as she passes them. Upon passing one room she stops suddenly and turns around. Looking in the room again she sees something she never expected to see, Trzaska. Thirteen presses the button outside the room and waits as the electronic sliding door opens. She walks into the room and tries to understand what's in front of her. Trzaska is leaning back in a chair holding the hand of the patient in the bed. Thirteen quietly walks over and shakes Trzaska slightly trying to wake him up. He begins to stir. "Adam, Adam wake up," Thirteen whispers.

Trzaska rouses and blinks trying to see who is in front of him. He then covers his eyes with his hand, shielding them from the bright light.

"Are you ok," Thirteen asks.

Trzaska recognizes the voice and nods. "Yeah, I'm all right. What time is it?"

"It's after eleven," Thirteen replies slightly concerned. "Is everything ok?"

"Shit, did you say after eleven," Tzaska asks his head jerking up suddenly.

"Yeah, why don't you go shower upstairs," Thirteen suggests. "I'll cover for you."

"Thanks Remy," Trzaska replies. His eyes now adjusted to the light, Trzaska grabs his cane, looks at Amelia for a moment. Satisfied that she's sleeping well he, limps out of the room and down the hall.

Thirteen stares at the woman in the bed. She picks up the chart and is about to read it when she stops. She remembers how little privacy her coworkers have given her over the years and realizes she doesn't want to be like them. Thirteen puts the chart back at the end of the bed and looks briefly at the woman's vitals making sure she is stable. When she was satisfied, Thirteen leaves the room and goes back upstairs to meet her colleagues. She walks into the ddx room and over to the coffee pot in the corner. "Got a phone call from Trzaska," Thirteen says pouring a cup of coffee. "He said he's fine and will be in soon."

"Glad to hear it," Foreman states. "Can we talk about why the patient's heart stopped?"

"We shocked her back to sinus rhythm. She's stable," Taub says. "Test didn't set it off. Her EKG was normal."

"Well, she's consistent," Foreman states. "The lung problem's had nothing to do with her lungs. A heart problem that has nothing to do with her heart. Something is strangling her system."

"Carcinoid tumor," Chase suggests.

"Find it, cut it out," Foreman says.

The team gets up and leaves the office.

Trzaska is steps out of the shower and dries his face off. With another towel around his waist, Trzaska takes a seat on a bench that is against the wall. He leans back and wipes his face with the towel.

"So this is what you do instead of treating patients," a female voice says from several feet away.

"Jesus," Trzaska shouts startled and almost falls off the bench. "Kaycee? What are you doing here?"

Kaycee, a tall medium built woman crosses her arms and looks at Trzaska. She has brunette hair that is cut short to frame her face, and has a nose ring in her right nostril. She's wearing an unzipped hoodie and jeans. Trzaska can see the red tank top she's wearing underneath. "I haven't seen you since college and that's all you have to say to me," Kaycee asks a bit perturbed.

"I just, I never expected to see you again," Trzaska says.

"Oh ye of little faith," Kaycee says smiling at Trzaska. She takes her hoodie off and starts fanning herself with her hand. "Geez, you always did like hot showers."

"Yeah," Trzaska says frowning and looking down.

"I see you're kind of busy right now but I'll see you around," Kaycee says. "I'm in town for a few days. Maybe we can get dinner. You still have my number?"

"Yeah," Trzaska says chuckling to himself. "How could I delete it?"

Kaycee smiles and gives Trzaska a flirty wink just before turning around. Trzaska watches her leave and his eyes are drawn to her exposed shoulders. He sees two parts of a tattoo on her back over her shoulders, but can't make out what it is. Kaycee quickly disappears from his view as she rounds the corner past a row of lockers. "Kaycee! Wait!" Trzaska shouts getting up from where he was sitting and chasing after her, but as he rounds the corner he sees nothing. Trzaska squints his eyes and begins looking down the other rows of lockers. He doesn't see Kaycee anywhere, so Trzaska slowly and confusedly goes back to his locker where he begins changing into a spare set of clothes.

Meanwhile Chase and Taub are performing a scan on Julie.

"Small intestine looks clean," Chase says. "Moving into the pylorus." He continues staring at the screen. "Nothing in the bile duct."

"Wait, what's…" Taub exclaims.

"That's her stomach," Chase says looking at the screen. "It's the size of a shot glass."

"Because our patient's a big, fat cheater," Taub says angrily.

A half hour later, Chase and Taub meet the rest of the team back in the diagnostics office. Trzaska is there talking with Foreman and Thirteen. "Our patient's a cheat," Taub announces as he enters the office.

"What," Thirteen questions.

"Look at this," Chase says handing Foreman a picture of Julie when she was fat. Foreman looks at it and makes a surprised expression before passing it to Thirteen who does the same before passing it to Trzaska.

"Gastric bypass surgery.," Taub says. "She had her stomach stapled. Then had the records from her files pulled so it wouldn't ruin her DVD sales."

"Her gastric bypass procedure could cause…" Chase starts.

"Forget the bypass," Foreman says. "Treat her like a fat girl."

"Should we treat her like a 60-year-old Asian man too? She's not fat," Taub argues.

"Not on the outside. But on the inside, she's still tons of fun," Trzaska says.

"When she was obese, she probably had type two diabetes," Thirteen suggests. "Could've left her with permanent nerve damage."

"If this was diabetes-induced nerve damage, it would've kicked in years ago," Foreman states.

"Sleep apnea explains…" Chase starts but is interrupted by Trzaska.

"Apnea would've disappeared when she shrank," Trzaska says.

"Not if it destroyed the musculature of her trachea," Taub says.

"Apnea cuts off oxygen to the brain," Chase says. "The resulting neurological damage…"

"She been snoring," Trzaska asks.

"She didn't mention it," Taub replies.

"Did she mention feeling tired after a full night's sleep," Trzaska asks.

"No, but…" Chase starts to answer.

"This isn't apnea," Trzaska says throwing the photo down on the table.

Thirteen looks over at Foreman. "We need to consider side effects from her gastric bypass surgery."

"Forget the bypass," Chase says.

"No no, let her finish," Foreman says.

"You said forget the…" Chase starts but is cut off by Foreman.

"Dr. Hadley has the floor," Foreman says pretentiously.

"Bypass could create malabsorption issues," Thirteen says. "Leads to low potassium."

"Her potassium's fine," Foreman says.

"But her intestines aren't," Trzaska interjects. "Gastric bypass could cause malabsorption by creating a blind loop of bowel. It ulcerates during exercise. Bacteria get loose in the bloodstream. Migrate to the heart and lungs."

"Bacteria in the bowels means there's bacteria in the feces," Foreman says thinking aloud. "Get some and test it."

The team gets up and leaves while Foreman stares at the symptoms on the whiteboard.

"Everything okay," Chase asks Trzaska while they're walking down the hall. No response comes.

Chase looks behind him to see Trzaska's not there. "Where'd he go?"

"I don't know," Thirteen says shaking her head. "He was right behind me."

"I hate when he does that," Chase says.

"I say we punish him by making him get the stool sample," Taub suggests.

"No, let's just do it and get it over with," Thirteen says stepping into the elevator first followed by a confused looking Chase and Taub.

"You're okay with him skipping out on this case," Taub asks.

"Yep," Thirteen replies. The elevator doors close with Chase and Taub sharing mutual confused expressions.


	26. All By Myself Part 2

Disclaimer: House and all respective characters do not belong to me. I am only borrowing them for personal enjoyment.

Also I am not a doctor so I have decided to borrow cases used earlier in the show for medical accuracy. My creativity comes in with building and developing character relationships as well as introducing original characters. Criticism and reviews are most welcome. Hope you enjoy.

* * *

A few minutes later Thirteen, Chase, and Taub arrive in Julie's room.

"We think your surgery might've caused an infection called SIBO," Thirteen says as they walk into the room.

Taub grabs a bedpan from one of the cupboards. "Stool test will help us to confirm. Put some of what you're full of in here," he says setting the bedpan on the bed next to Julie's leg.

"If surgery could somehow make you taller, wouldn't you do it," Julie asks.

"Sure. But I wouldn't call a meeting of the Lollipop Guild and tell them they can grow if they work real hard at it," Taub snarks.

"I don't tell anyone not to get gastric bypass," Julie defiantly states. "I tell them how to get healthy. How to improve their lives."

"Yeah, by telling them to do what you were unwilling to," Taub says.

"I was willing to do anything," Julie says. "Thyroid, hormones, crash diets…none of it worked. My body was like a prison. When I got the surgery, I got healthy. And when I got healthy, I got happy."

"I'm not sure you're happy," Taub says. "But if you are, being healthy didn't do it. Being pretty did. Poop in the bedpan," he says tapping it with his pen. Taub turns and exits the room leaving Julie looking frustrated. Thirteen and Chase depart right behind Taub.

"I take it you don't like fatties," Chase says as they're walking down the hallway.

"I don't like hypocrites," Taub snarks.

Thirteen scoffs, "Right, 'cause you've always taken your own advice."

"This isn't about me," Taub states.

"How are your two baby mommas anyway," Thirteen asks. Taub scowls and walks faster around a corner. Chase smirks and looks at Thirteen who grins back as they continue walking.

Meanwhile Wilson is sitting at his desk writing out a prescription when he hears a knock on his open door. He looks up and sees Cuddy standing in the doorway. "What's up," he asks.

"You heard from Adam yet today," she asks directly.

"Can't say I have. Why," Wilson asks.

"He's not answering his phone and Foreman says he hasn't shown up yet," Cuddy answers.

"Great," Wilson says sighing. "You think he's in trouble?"

"Something's obviously going on," Cuddy says walking into the room and sitting down in one of the chairs in front of Wilson's desk.

"Yeah," Wilson agrees.

"That's it," Cuddy asks.

"What," Wilson defends.

"I thought you were gonna help me keep an eye on him..." Cuddy starts but is interrupted by another knock on Wilson's door. Cuddy turns around to see Foreman standing in Wilson's doorway.

"You needed a consult," Foreman asks looking at Wilson.

"Yeah, clinic patient," Wilson says grabbing a file sitting near him. "Trzaska hasn't come in yet?"

"He's getting a stool sample," Foreman responds as he crosses the room and takes the file from Wilson.

"I thought you said…" Cuddy starts but Foreman interrupts her.

"He got in a little over an hour ago," Foreman says looking at the CT scan. "He stopped to help with a car accident and then his bike broke down."

"Why didn't he answer…" Cuddy starts to ask.

"Phone was dead," Foreman says before turning his attention to Wilson. "Your patient has some scarring in the hippocampal region. Looks like meningitis," he says handing the file back to Wilson.

"Did he seem fine," Cuddy asks Foreman. "Was his phone really dead?"

Foreman shrugs his shoulders, "Seemed okay to me. And yes, I watched him plug it in as soon as he walked in the door."

"Thanks," Wilson says and gets up from his desk leaving Cuddy speechless. Foreman follows Wilson out. Cuddy gets up from her seat and walks over to the window looking over at the DDX Office while biting her cheek.

A half hour later, Foreman walks into a lab where he finds Taub and Chase.

"Where's Thirteen and Trzaska," Foreman asks.

"Clinic," Chase answers.

Foreman nods and looks at the fecal sample sitting on the counter. "What'd you find out?"

"It's gonna take about an hour to spin down the sample," Taub says.

"High fat content indicates SIBO," Foreman says as he grabs a bucket and crosses the room to the sink. He turns the water on and starts filling the bucket. "And what does fat do in water?" Chase chuckles quietly and looks at his phone.

"It floats," Taub answers condescendingly.

Foreman turns off the water and comes back, plopping the bucket of water on the counter next to Taub. "What else floats in water?" He puts a glove on, picks up the stool sample and drops it in the bucket. All three of them watch as the feces sinks to the bottom.

"Looks like I was wrong to dismiss apnea," Foreman says pulling off his glove and throwing it in a biohazard bin. "Get her set up in the sleep lab," he says as he turns and leaves the lab.

Several hours later in the sleep lab, Julie is asleep with a CPAP mask on and an array of electrodes attached to her forehead. Chase, Taub, and Thirteen watch from the observation room. They are all watching an episode of Scrubs.

"How can you two watch this," Thirteen asks.

"What? It's funny," Chase says. "And it's nothing like real life."

A few seconds of silence go by until Taub breaks it. "Am I the only one who is annoyed because Trzaska isn't stuck here?"

"Yes," Thirteen and Chase say at the same time. Taub scowls while Thirteen and Chase glance at each other and smile.

"You want to leave go ahead," Thirteen says slightly annoyed.

Taub looks over at the sleep monitor. Julie's EEG is flat lining. He then looks into the room and finds that Julie's bed is empty. "Uh, guys."

Thirteen and Chase look into the room and see exactly what Taub sees. "Where would she have gone," Chase asks no one in particular.

After a few minutes of looking, the trio finds Julie in a rehab room. She's running on a treadmill even though her leg is still in a cast.

"Hey, I looked for you guys in the control room, but you seemed busy," Julie pants while she's running.

Chase turns off the treadmill. "Get off there. Last time you exercised, you had a cardiac incident."

"I feel fine," Julie says.

"You felt fine last time," Taub says.

"I only slept a couple hours, but I feel great," Julie says stopping moving. "Can I get one of those machines?"

"You're running on a broken ankle," Thirteen says puzzled.

"It doesn't hurt," Julie says.

"And your leg is bleeding," Taub says. He gets a syringe and sticks her in the calf, just above the bloody cast. "You feel that?"

Julie shakes her head. "What does that mean?"

Taub gives her a concerned look. "We need to get you back to your room." They get Julie back to her room and get her settled in for the night. The three doctors stand outside her room looking in on her.

"I've had enough of this, I'm going home," Thirteen says.

"We can't just call it a night," Taub says. "We need to come up with a new differential."

"Yes, in the morning," Thirteen says. She starts walking down the hall away from Taub. "Goodnight."

Taub stares after Thirteen and then turns to Chase who shrugs his shoulders and pats Taub on the arm before turning and walking away himself. Taub sighs and looks back at Julie before turning and walking away.

It was late into the night. Well past 1 a.m. when Thirteen quietly walked into Amelia's room. She stood with her hands in the pockets of her lab coat as she watched Trzaska. Trzaska is looking into Amelia's eyes. She seems tired, barely able to stay awake. Trzaska is standing with his back to the door. He is so focused on Amelia he never heard Thirteen come in. Amelia couldn't talk since she had been intubated earlier in the day. Her paralysis was getting worse and she could no longer breathe on her own. Trzaska was holding her hand, looking into her face and smiling.

"You get some rest now," Trzaska says softly. "We'll talk again tomorrow." Amelia blinked once in response, communicating as best she could without the use of her voice. He opened the door to the i.v. pump and put in the code to increase the morphine level. "Good night," Trzaska whispers. He leans down and kisses her on her forehead.

"Who is she," Thirteen asks after she watches Amelia fall asleep. Trzaska jumps a little. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," Thirteen says. "I know you've been here for the last few days. Moreover, you have been acting different. I assume this is what has been bothering you." Thirteen tries to look sympathetic. She had watched a loved one suffer before, and she was more than willing to listen if Trzaska wanted to talk. "Thought you might want to know Julie has numbness in her foot."

"I couldn't give a crap," Trzaska says looking down at Amelia. "You want to know who she is, let's see if you can figure it out." He limps over to the end of the bed and picks up the chart there. Trzaska crosses the room and hands it to Thirteen.

Thirteen holds the chart in her hand and looks at Trzaska with a puzzled look on her face. "Why don't you just tell me about it," Thirteen asks. "I don't want to figure it out. I just want you to know I'm here to listen."

Trzaska forces a smile but it isn't very convincing. "I appreciate it Remy, but please just look at the chart. I wouldn't know where to start."

Thirteen briefs through the chart looking at the patient's diagnosis. "She has, Krabbe's disease," Thirteen reads aloud. "Krabbe's disease, I've never even heard of this."

"It's a rare neurologic disorder, ask Foreman about it," Trzaska states. "I don't understand it very well myself. All I know is she is dying, painfully." Trzaska walks back over to the foot of Amelia's bed and looks at the monitors. "You're right; this is why I have been distracted. She's, she's a very old friend of mine. She was there for me when I was younger, when I needed her. She's always been there when I needed her. So now I'm here for her. I'm sorry for my lack of interest in our latest case but to be honest I don't really care." Trzaska limps with his cane over to the door and stops next to Thirteen. The two stood nose to nose looking into each other's eyes. "I'm going to get some food," Trzaska coldly states. "Thank you for stopping by Remy, I'll see you tomorrow." Trzaska turns to open the door, his shoulder slightly brushing against Thirteen's on the way out.

Thirteen thought Trzaska would give her some answers, but instead she had more questions. She went home that night and had a hard time sleeping. She could tell Trzaska wanted to talk about what was going on, but it was a painful subject. Thirteen knew firsthand how difficult it was after watching her brother succumb to his Huntington's.

The next morning she got to work a little early. She knew Foreman would be the first one in and she wanted to ask him about Krabbe's disease. A few minutes before nine, Foreman arrived right on schedule. "Good morning," Foreman says. "What's up? You're never the first one here."

"Yeah, everything's fine," Thirteen lies unconvincingly. "I wanted to ask you if you've heard of Krabbe's disease."

"Krabbe's disease," Foreman asks. "Yeah, it's a genetic disease caused by a mutation on chromosome 14. The buildup of unmetabolized lipids affects the growth of the nerve's protective myelin sheath and causes severe degeneration of motor skills."

"Is it painful," Thirteen asks.

"Well it can be," Foreman said as he thought. Most experience muscle weakness and atrophy, deafness, optic atrophy, fevers and paralysis amongst other symptoms. It's very rare in this country, why do you ask?"

"You said it's a genetic mutation," Thirteen questions.

"Yes, it's most common in infants and young children but it can come on later in life," Foreman answers.

"Is there a treatment for it," Thirteen asks.

"Well bone marrow transplants have been shown to help if caught early," Foreman replies. "But it's mostly just supportive treatment."

"Thanks," Thirteen says. She gets up from her seat, grabs her coffee and leaves the office. Foreman wears a puzzled look on his face and sips his coffee while watching Thirteen leave.

An hour later Chase and Taub arrived in the ddx office. Thirteen had already returned and was reading a textbook when they walked in. They brought reports with them and threw them on the table for Foreman to read. Foreman picks up the file and glances over it.

"Numbness in her left foot is ascending into her leg," Taub says.

"How did she manage to sneak out for a run," Foreman asks.

"She said she needed to use the bathroom," Chase replies looking at Taub.

"Results of the apnea test," Foreman asks.

"Alpha waves on the EEG ruled it out," Chase answers.

"Ascending numbness means her nerves are breaking down," Thirteen says.

"Or her brain," Taub says.

"Or both," Foreman responds.

"If the problem's in her brain, it could be MS," Thirteen suggests.

"Or early onset Parkinson's," Chase states.

"But if it's her nerves, it could be transverse myelitis," Taub says.

"Or a million other things," Foreman states. "We're gonna stay in the dark until we can figure out if her electrical problem is in her brain or her nerves. Go run an NCV test. And find out where Trzaska is."

"Clinic," Thirteen says. "Ran into him an hour ago."

"Well after you get through with the NCV test tell him to get his butt back on this case," Foreman says. "There's a hundred doctors Cuddy can use to wipe runny noses. Only you four can figure out why this woman's dying!"

The team leaves the office and Foreman stares at House's ball that is still sitting on his desk. He frowns and knocks it off with the back of his hand.

"I'm gonna run down to the clinic, meet you back up here soon," Thirteen says and takes off down the hall with coffee in one hand and a file in the other.

Later in the treatment room, Taub is attaching electrodes to Julie's legs.

"The test will measure the amount of time it'll take this electrical impulse to travel along your nerves," Taub says.

"Will it hurt?," Julie asks.

"No. Give me your arm," Taub says.

"You can ask nicely," Julie says.

"I learned at med school you don't actually cure with kindness," Taub snaps.

"You're right. I'm a hypocrite," Julie says. "But I don't have a choice."

"Not really interested in your rationalizations," Taub states.

"If I'm open about the gastric bypass, no one would listen to me anymore," Julie says.

"You mean no one would buy your DVDs," Taub says.

"It's not about the DVD sales," Julie snaps. "I'm helping people. My clients are making themselves healthy. They're living better lives. Can you honestly tell me you've never done anything hypocritical?" Taub doesn't say anything. "I'm sure you had good reasons."

"Give me your arm… please," Taub asks. Her arm is shaking as she raises it about six inches off the bed. "Keep your arm raised," Taub says. She has trouble keeping her arm up.

"Does this mean something is wrong with my nerves," Julie asks.

"No. It's your muscles," Taub says. "We don't need to run this test. It's not what we thought."

Thirteen is smiling as she walks out of Victoria's room. She had arrived just in time to see her off and had also finished her coffee. Thirteen heads down the hall for Amelia's room. As she turns a corner, she begins to hear shouting. Thirteen picks up her pace and starts running down the hall. She discovers the shouting is coming from Amelia's room. Trzaska is furious. Thirteen sees him throw a bedpan across the room at a few of the nurses and swing his cane at a male nurse trying to get close to him. "I SAID GET OUT," Trzaska exclaims. Thirteen enters the room and gets between him and the nurses. Holding her arms out, Thirteen tries to put some distance between everyone. "GET OUT," Trzaska yells again.

"Just go," Thirteen tells the nurses. "It's ok just go." The nurses hesitantly leave, the male nurse glares at Trzaska on the way out.

"You son of a…" Trzaska says as he moves to strike him.

"Just hold it," Thirteen shouts placing her body between Trzaska and the nurse. He bumps into her and almost falls causing Thirteen to have to catch him. "Will you just sit down," Thirteen orders. Trzaska misplaced his cane and collapses on the floor when he tried to lean on it. Rather than get angry about it, he decides to just stay where he landed. Thirteen could see the anger fading as a sleep-deprived look overtook his features. Trzaska massaged his right knee as he sat there. Thirteen squats down and looks at Trzaska's face. "What the hell has gotten into you," she asks.

"They were trying to lower her morphine," Trzaska says, barely audible. "They would have woken her up. I couldn't take that look in her eyes again. That pained look." Trzaska put his head down and wipes the sweat from his face.

Thirteen looks at him and sits down across from him. "I asked Foreman about her disease," Thirteen states while setting the file down on the floor. "I'm sorry, it must be difficult."

"It is," Trzaska says blankly. "It's the most terrible thing I have ever gone through. Even worse than our parents."

"Your parents," Thirteen questions. "What did they go through?"

"They died," Trzaska says calmly. "A long time ago." Trzaska grabs the bed and pulls himself up. "Please leave Remy," Trzaska requests. "And please tell them not to touch her morphine drip." Thirteen stands up, picking up the file as she does so, and stares at Trzaska unsure of what to do. "Please Remy, I want to be alone," Trzaska says.

Thirteen nods and reluctantly walks away from him. She stops as she reaches the door and turns back around. "I know this is hard, but Foreman is getting upset that you've been absent from the differentials. I brought you a copy of the updated file," Thirteen says walking back and setting the file down on Amelia's bed. She smiles awkwardly and then turns around, exiting the room.

Meanwhile Chase and Taub are in one of the elevators heading down to the ddx room.

"She has muscle weakness. Could indicate myasthenia gravis," Taub says.

"Yep," Chase replies.

"Also could be some kind of toxin," Taub suggests.

The elevator doors open revealing Foreman waiting to get on. "Perfect I get to kill two birds with one stone," Foreman says getting on the elevator and pressing the button for the ground floor. "What'd the NCV show?"

"She has muscle weakness. Could indicate myasthenia gravis," Taub says again.

"It's not myasthenia gravis," Foreman replies. "Her breathing's improving and the weakness is in her extremities." The elevator doors open and the three step off and into the lobby. Foreman sets a pace for Cuddy's office.

"Could be a botulinum reaction," Chase suggests. "She probably used a lot of botox to tighten up her skin."

"True, could also be any kind of heavy metal toxicity," Foreman responds. "PSP or arsenic from eating too much seafood. Cadmium from bad bottled water. Or lead or nickel from canned fruits or natural grains. Lucky for us, we can treat all those toxins with the same thing: chelation." Foreman leaves Chase and Taub in the clinic as he enters Cuddy's office.

Cuddy is on the phone when she notices Foreman. "Listen, can I call you back," she asks. "Great. Thanks."

"Can you tell Trzaska to back off his clinic duties for a while," Foreman asks.

"What are you talking about," Cuddy responds.

"Ever since you threatened him with excess clinic hours he's been putting extra time in the clinic to try and stay ahead," Foreman states.

"And that's a bad thing," Cuddy asks. "The clinic has been doing well. It hasn't been this efficient in years."

"It can stand to be a little less efficient when I have a patient dying," Foreman barks angrily.

"What do you mean," Cuddy asks again. "Are you saying he hasn't been involved in your case?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Foreman replies.

Cuddy nods solemnly, "I'll talk to him." Foreman nods and leaves her office.


	27. All By Myself Part 3

Disclaimer: House and all respective characters do not belong to me. I am only borrowing them for personal enjoyment.

Also I am not a doctor so I have decided to borrow cases used earlier in the show for medical accuracy. My creativity comes in with building and developing character relationships as well as introducing original characters. Criticism and reviews are most welcome. Hope you enjoy.

* * *

Meanwhile Trzaska is upstairs pacing one of the many hallways. It was where he came to think. In his hand is Julie's file. He ducks into an empty patient's room and stands beside the empty bed. He laid the file out on the bed and starts combing over the lab results. He was focused so intently he never heard the door open.

"You didn't call," Kaycee says.

Trzaska smiles without looking up from the file. "Got busy."

"You don't seem surprised I'm here," Kaycee replies.

"I knew you'd show up eventually," Trzaska says looking up. "How could you not?"

"You always did know me too well," Kaycee says with her hands in the pockets of the denim skirt she is wearing. Trzaska also notes the light green, skimpy top and black boots she's wearing. Kaycee takes a few steps towards Trzaska and steps behind him, putting her arms around him. The heeled boots she's wearing lets Kaycee be the same height as Trzaska and she puts her head in the V of his neck. "I've missed you." She leans her head towards his and kisses his cheek.

"I've missed you too," Trzaska replies, reaching up and grabbing her arm with his hand. He closes his eyes and leans his head into Kaycee's when suddenly his pager goes off. Trzaska and Kaycee both sigh. "Gotta go back to work," Trzaska says looking at his pager. "I'll see you again soon." He kisses Kaycee on the cheek, picks up Julie's file he had spread across the bed, and limps out of the room heading down to the DDX Office.

He arrives downstairs to find the team sitting around the table. Chase looks up and nods at Trzaska after noticing him. Taub rolls his eyes and Thirteen smiles at Trzaska, a little surprised he's shown up.

Foreman arrives as Trzaska leans against one of the bookshelves. "Talk to me people."

"The chelation didn't work," Taub says. "Her muscles are still deteriorating."

"That rules out toxins," Foreman says. "So what else can go wrong?"

"Coronaro-cardiac fistula," Thirteen suggests. "Even a small hole could cause…"

"This started in the lungs, not the heart," Foreman says.

"Austrian syndrome," Chase suggests.

"Our patient doesn't drink," Trzaska blurts out suddenly. "She's a health nut. And even if I was a cynical guy and thought that she was a liar, I'd have done a tox screen, which would've come back negative for alcohol. And if I would have done it, I know Foreman did it."

"Guillain-Barré," Taub suggests. "Usually starts as a muscle pain patients compare to the pain of over-exercising."

"Guillain-Barré fits," Trzaska says bouncing his cane absentmindedly. "Patient didn't notice the initial symptoms because it's no different than how she feels every day. Her muscle weakness is the precursor to full paralysis. Gastric bypass probably set it off. Oh, the price of beauty?"

Foreman thinks about what they've discussed. "Go start her on plasmapheresis," he says to Taub.

"Why me," Taub complains.

"Because you're the only one who's taken such a personal interest in her cheating," Foreman replies.

Taub grumbles and gets up from the table, leaving the office.

As Taub walks out, Cuddy walks in. "Adam. A moment please," Cuddy says.

It's Trzaska's turn to grumble as he follows Cuddy out of the office. "Yes Mom," Trzaska says when they reach the hallway.

"Will you stop calling me that," Cuddy says smacking his arm. Trzaska grins stupidly in response. "Foreman tells me you've been catching up on clinic duty instead of working on this case. Anything I should know about?"

"Nope," Trzaska replies making a funny face. "Just saving up time for a rainy day. Don't want to get yelled at for getting behind on my clinic hours again."

"This is the kind of case you live for, contradictions piling up left and right and yet you are as far away from it as you can be," Cuddy says. "I gotta wonder…"

"You caught me," Trzaska bursts out. "I'm desperately in love with our patient. Can't stand to be in the same room with her because it gives me a raging hard on and I want to jump her."

Cuddy smacks Trzaska's arm again. "You're a pig," she says and walks away defeated.

"I love you too Mom," Trzaska shouts after Cuddy.

Meanwhile in Julie's room, Taub has just told her their new theory.

"Ultimate irony," Julie says. "Killed myself trying to make myself healthy."

"You're not dying, okay," Taub says. "This disease is manageable."

"Better start getting used to that wheelchair," Julie says looking over at a wheelchair in the corner.

"Self-pity doesn't suit you," Taub retorts.

"Just take me down to the…" Julie starts but is interrupted by Taub.

"No. You're strong enough to walk. Come on, get your ass out of bed and walk." Julie eyeballs Taub for a moment, but then her eyes soften. She gets up and slowly walks, holding onto her IV pole. Taub holds her other arm and helps her down to the treatment room.

Meanwhile Trzaska is pacing the hall outside Amelia's room. He looks in on her every time he passes by. Pausing in front of the window, he watches Amelia sleeping and bounces his cane. He sees Kaycee's reflection in the window. "You have any ideas," Trzaska says out loud.

"About…your ass," Kaycee says tilting her head and looking at his backside.

Trzaska smiles, "About my patient."

"The one you don't care about," Kaycee asks.

"Yeah, that one," Trzaska replies not looking away from Amelia.

"You can't not care about a patient," Kaycee says adjusting the purse on her shoulder.

Trzaska tilts his head to the side. "How did you know I didn't care about her?"

"Overheard you talking to that other doctor," Kaycee replies. "You know I never could stay far away."

"Yeah," Trzaska says nodding. "So how 'bout it? Any ideas? You used to like this stuff just as much as me."

Back in Julie's room, Taub walks in waking Julie up.

"I brought some visitors," Taub says. "Cheer you up." He looks back at the people out in the hall and steps to the side. "It's okay. Come on in, guys."

The people from the commercial enter. They're all smiling and look glad to see Julie.

"We're all staying on your plan. Nobody's cheating," Ted says.

"That's great," Julie says smiling back. Ted sits on the bed on Julie's arm. "Uh, you're on my arm," she says.

"We found out about your gastric bypass," Ted says. "How could you lie to us like that?"

"The doctors told you," Julie asks. Ted shifts on the bed. "You're really hurting my arm."

"You're not the best you, you can be," Ted says. "You're a fraud. You're a self-hating fat person."

"You're really hurting me," Julie whines.

"Feel the burn," Ted says glaring at Julie.

"Burn! Burn!" the other visitors start chanting and closing in on Julie.

"Help!" Julie screams just before waking up. She screams then sits up in bed. "Get off of me! Get off of me! Get off of me!" Looking around the room Julie realizes she's alone and calms down a little. Her skin is clammy and she's shaking.

A nurse walks into her room. "Are you all right," she asks.

A little later Chase and Thirteen find Trzaska in the same empty treatment room he was in before. He's pacing the room with Julie's file laid open on the bed again. Kaycee is sitting in a chair against the back wall facing the door. Her legs are crossed to keep anyone from seeing up her skirt.

"Mood congruent hallucinations," Chase says as he walks in the room.

"Damn," Trzaska says. "Means it's not Guillain-Barré."

"Which means whatever it is, it's now in her brain," Thirteen says shutting the door behind her.

"Could be CNS lymphoma," Kaycee suggests from her seat. Trzaska turns back around and looks at her.

"So losing the 200 pounds was just a coincidence," Trzaska asks.

"What about a prion disease," Chase suggests.

Trzaska turns his attention back to Chase. "If her brain is slowly turning into Swiss cheese, there's not a lot we can do is there?"

"There are some possible treatments," Thirteen says.

"You'll have to get a brain biopsy to confirm," Trzaska states.

"You'll have to get Cuddy's approval," Thirteen says.

"Sounds like a job for Foreman," Trzaska retorts.

"Foreman already shot us down," Chase states.

"So that's why you're here," Trzaska says aloud to himself.

"She's dead unless we can figure out what's going on inside her brain," Thirteen comments.

Trzaska sighs, "All right. I'll go talk to Cuddy."

Thirteen and Chase exit the room, leaving Trzaska alone again with Kaycee.

"Seriously? You're gonna pretend like it hurts your feelings that they came to you for help," Kaycee asks getting up from her chair and walking towards Trzaska. "Don't be pathetic. Go kick ass babe," she says slapping his butt and walking out of the room.

Trzaska stares after her, noticing a little more of the tattoo on her back. He tries to study it but before he can make anything out she is gone from his sight. Trzaska sighs again and then collects Julie's file. He leaves the room and minutes later is in Cuddy's office.

"You're not cutting into this woman's brain before you test," Cuddy says.

"That is the test," Trzaska defends.

"Not for CNS lymphoma, which is a perfectly legitimate diagnosis," Cuddy argues. "One you can test for non-invasively."

"You're obviously not opposed to being invasive," Trzaska argues back.

"Rule out CNS lymphoma first," Cuddy orders. "Then rule out astrocytoma, then rule out other brain tumors…"

Trzaska waves his hands around, miming doing magic. "Alakazam. I hereby declare them ruled out."

"Run the tests. You can do a brain biopsy, but only as a last resort," she says handing the file back.

Thirteen and Chase are waiting for Trzaska outside Cuddy's office. "How'd it go," Chase asks.

"We're gonna have to run down Lisa's list of diseases it's not before we can do our biopsy," Trzaska says. "You should fill in Foreman and Taub and then get started."

"What are you gonna do," Thirteen asks puzzled.

"I'm going to think," Trzaska replies and starts to limp down the hall. Chase and Thirteen watch Trzaska leave and then go upstairs to talk to Foreman.

An hour later Taub is wheeling Julie down a hallway. "Your head MRI was clean. Means you don't have CNS lymphoma," Taub says.

"What's next on the list," Julie asks.

"Other types of brain tumors," Taub states.

"Can we stop at the cafeteria," Julie asks.

"I can have something brought up for you. What do you want," Taub asks.

"Chocolate cake," Julie says.

"You can't give up. We're gonna figure this out," Taub states.

"What am I supposed to be hoping for," Julie asks clearly frustrated. "That you find a brain tumor? What else could it be? You were so hard on me about lying. How about you take some of your own advice and tell me the truth? What's next on the list?"

Taub pauses for a moment before answering. "Prion disease."

"And if that's what I got, how bad," Julie asks.

"There are a few treatments, but there's no guarantee. I'm sorry," Taub says genuinely.

"And you won't let me have a piece of cake," Julie questions.

Taub smiles comfortingly and goes back to pushing her wheelchair.

Meanwhile Trzaska is walking down the hall on his way to Amelia's room. Kaycee comes up behind him and grabs his arm. "So what's with all this flirting," she asks. "Do you want to do something about this or not?"

"Do something about what," Trzaska asks still focused on finding a new hiding place.

"Are you being intentionally thick," Kaycee asks. "You know exactly what I'm talking about."

"First you want me involved in the case, now you want me to focus on you. What do you really want," Trzaska asks stopping suddenly.

Kaycee stops too and stands in front of Trzaska. "You." She says strongly. "I want that brain of yours, that wit, and more importantly…" she trails off while looking down at his groin and licking her lips.

"Seems we've arrived at our hotel room," Trzaska says opening a nearby door and letting Kaycee in behind him. Shutting the door and turning the lights on, Trzaska reveals the On-call room. Kaycee wastes no time, she throws her purse down and begins kissing Trzaska. She removes the skimpy top she's wearing and starts to remove Trzaska's shirt, all while feverishly kissing him.

A little over an hour later Taub enters Foreman's office. "It's not CNS lymphoma," Taub says.

"I know," Foreman answers.

"She's getting worse," Taub states. "You want me to find Cuddy and get her approval for the brain biopsy?"

"I'll do the biopsy myself," Foreman says. Foreman leaves the office and Taub follows. They go down the hall to the elevator and ride it down to the ICU in quiet.

Taub breaks the silence just before they enter Julie's room. "Cuddy wanted us to eliminate seven different things."

"Cuddy doesn't always get what she wants," Foreman says as he opens the door. They both stop and stare. Julie is standing with her broken leg on a chair doing stretches. "I thought you said she was sick," Foreman says to Taub. Taub looks back at Foreman with a dumb look on his face.

Meanwhile in the On-call room, Trzaska is sitting on one of the beds in his underwear. He's rolling a silver dollar over his knuckles and looking at a spot on the wall. Kaycee is naked and on all fours next to him. "What are you thinking about," Kaycee whispers and then nibbles on his ear lobe.

"Hmm," Trzaska replies absentmindedly.

"You always think about random things after sex, you used to come up with some of the craziest ideas," Kaycee states, her voice still thick with seduction.

"Just thinking," Trzaska replies. Kaycee kisses his cheek then gets up and puts her skirt on. She has her back to Trzaska and he can finally see the tattoo on her back, a large pair of angel wings, going from her shoulder blades all the way down to her thighs. "When did you get that tattoo," Trzaska asks while still rolling his coin.

"A few years ago," Kaycee says putting her top on.

"I thought your skin didn't hold ink well," Trzaska comments while putting his own clothes back on.

"How do you remember that," Kaycee asks. Trzaska tilts his head to the side giving her a look. "Okay I'm not surprised you remember that. "I don't know it just worked out this time."

"Your genes aren't…" Trzaska's voice trails off. He stares at nothing for a moment before grabbing his cane and suddenly leaving the On-call room.

Back in the DDX Office, the team is going over a new differential.

"Sick people don't spontaneously get better," Foreman says.

"Yes, they do. It's called an immune system," Thirteen says.

"Sick people who are sick enough to make it to this office don't spontaneously get better," Foreman states.

Trzaska bursts into the office suddenly, "Saw the sick girl. She's better. What'd you give her?"

"That's what I was just about to ask," Foreman says looking at Taub.

"I took her for an MRI looking for…" Taub starts.

"MRIs detect. They don't treat," Chase interrupts.

"What did you give her after the MRI," Foreman asks.

"I didn't give her anything," Taub says. "She got depressed at the lack of direction. We went to the cafeteria for some chocolate cake. Took her to her room, hung a banana bag, let her rest."

Trzaska looks at Foreman, his eyes wide like he knows something. He looks back at Taub. "You gave her cake," he asks.

"She asked for it," Taub says. "I figured…"

"You figured you'd let us play twenty questions instead of just telling us," Trzaska states and looks at Foreman again.

"What are you thinking," Chase asks.

"I know what's wrong with her," Trzaska replies as he turns to leave the room.

"Care to share with the rest of the class before you go riding off," Foreman asks irritated.

"Gotta go put an order in to the cafeteria before they run out of chocolate cake," Trzaska says and turns around again, leaving the office.

"Trzaska!" Foreman shouts but Trzaska doesn't stop. Foreman looks at the team. "Somebody go with him." Taub, Thirteen, and Chase all get up and leave the office going after Trzaska.


	28. All By Myself Part 4

Disclaimer: House and all respective characters do not belong to me. I am only borrowing them for personal enjoyment.

Also I am not a doctor so I have decided to borrow cases used earlier in the show for medical accuracy. My creativity comes in with building and developing character relationships as well as introducing original characters. Criticism and reviews are most welcome. Hope you enjoy.

* * *

Twenty minutes later Julie's lying on her bed staring at the ceiling. Taub enters, followed by Trzaska, pushing a cart. There's a blue tablecloth on the cart and a large cake saver.

"Feeling crappy again," Trzaska asks. "I brought your cure." He pulls off the lid of the cake container and gives it to Taub. There's a whole, chocolate-frosted, two-layer cake inside. "I'd give you an IV of this stuff, but the frosting tends to get stuck in the little tubes."

"Is this a joke," Julie asks.

"It's not a joke," Trzaska answers. "Not a lie. Not an attempt to defraud in any way. It's an actual licensed physician with an actual diagnosis. Hereditary coproporphyria." He brings a forkful to her and she turns her head away. "Your face is genetically blessed. Your body chemistry is slightly less so." He eats the cake. "Doesn't make enough of a certain enzyme that I can't pronounce, but it's apparently important for your liver and everything else. Treatment is a high carb diet rich in sugar. When you were a porker, you were self-medicating."

"So this is treatable," Julie asks.

"We just have to reverse your gastric bypass and get you back on a high carb, glucose-enriched diet," Taub says, a little excited.

"The best you, you could be is a lot more you," Trzaska says. He brings another forkful of cake to her. "Open the hangar. Here comes the plane."

"There's nothing else you can try," Julie asks.

"No," Taub answers a little confused. "There's a drug that manages the symptoms, but it's not a cure."

"Let's try that," Julie says.

"You don't want to have the surgery," Taub asks.

"I understand," Trzaska says nodding. "There's not many people who have the guts to admit they'd rather be pretty than healthy. The income's better and you get more action. I'll start you on your drug treatment right away." He sets the fork down on the plate, gets up and leaves the cake sitting in front of Julie. Taub follows him.

Thirteen and Chase are waiting outside Julie's room when Trzaska and Taub come out.

"That was amazing," Chase says. "How did you know?"

"It just came to me," Trzaska says as they walk down the hallway. Chase and Thirteen both give him a look. "I remembered an abnormality in her blood tests and it just kind of fit."

"Either way, you saved her life," Thirteen says.

"Can't imagine Foreman's gonna be happy you got another one before him," Chase says.

"What should he care," Trzaska says. "It all happens on his watch. He gets the credit. Win win."

Taub is frowning next to them as they stop in front of the elevator. "What's wrong with you pouty face," Chase asks.

"I bought it," Taub says. "I bought that it was really about trying to make people's lives a little better."

"You're surprised she's superficial," Thirteen asks. "You're a plastic surgeon. This is the human condition."

"No, she's a freak," Taub says.

"Every time you put someone under to bob their nose, you were risking their life," Thirteen says. "And none of those people ever second guessed the surgery did they?"

Taub doesn't say anything.

"It's amazing what the mind can make true," Thirteen states as the elevator doors open.

Trzaska stops in mid stride as an idea hits him. "What did you say?"

"Well look at Julie, she's justified that she's healthier this way," Thirteen says. "Her mind has created this false truth so she can deal with what's going on. I think it's amazing that our brains can have that kind of power."

Trzaska doesn't move. He's paralyzed as his own mind races. He thinks of Kaycee, and pictures the tattoo of the angel wings on her back. And suddenly it all makes sense. He sighs and then comes back to reality. "Go on ahead. I forgot something. I'll be right behind you." Trzaska turns without waiting for a response and limps down the hall, quickly turning a corner.

After a few moments, Trzaska arrives in the empty room he's spent so much time in. There waiting for him is Kaycee. She has her back to him, looking out the window.

"Hey you," Kaycee says. She turns around to look at Trzaska.

"I finally understand," Trzaska says to himself.

"Understand what," Kaycee asks confused.

"You," Trzaska replies. "The mind is a powerful thing. You've been trying to protect me, trying to be my angel. That's why you pushed me to get involved with this case. That's why you've been garnering for my attention. You're trying to distract me. Trying to keep me from where I'm afraid to be."

"I just want you to be happy, that's all I've ever wanted for you," Kaycee says stepping toward him.

"But you can't…" Trzaska says.

Kaycee pulls Trzaska into her arms, "Shhhhh, don't talk like that."

Trzaska shakes his head as if trying to wake up from a dream. "No. Kaycee…Kaycee STOP IT!" Trzaska pulls back from Kaycee, pushing her to arm's length. He looks into her eyes and smiles as a tear runs down his face. "You can't protect me because…"

"Don't say it," Kaycee says as she starts to cry.

"You're not real," Trzaska finally says. He takes a step back from Kaycee, her hand holds desperately onto his. In his mind's eye Trzaska replays the events of the last two days. The first time he saw Kaycee was in the locker room. It made sense now how she had disappeared into thin air. The reason Thirteen and Chase didn't react to Kaycee was because she was never there. And the moment the two of them had in the On-call room was merely Trzaska hiding from everyone and popping vicodin. He remembered seeing her tattoo again. And then he remembered why she couldn't be real.

Trzaska's mind flashes back to when he was in college before he started med school. He and his sister Amelia walk to the front door of his apartment. "How can you like Joseph," Trzaska asks Amelia as he fumbles in his pocket for his keys. "The guy's a complete tool."

"No more than you are," Amelia replies laughing. "I think you're just upset 'cause he's one of your teammates and you walked in on us."

"Of course that's why I'm upset," Trzaska replies unlocking the door and opening it. "And can you please not remind me of that? I really don't need another visual."

Amelia closes the door behind her as Trzaska sets his school bag down on the sofa. "Hey I'm sorry, but a girl has needs."

"Ugh, enough alread…" Trzaska's voice trails off as he looks down the hall into the bedroom. He sees a body suspended in midair. "What? NO!" Time seems to slow down for Trzaska as he runs down the hall.

Amelia drops her school bag and chases after him. She reaches the bedroom just after Trzaska. In front of her is Kaycee hanging from a rope by her neck. A chair is tipped over at her feet and an empty bottle of anti-depressants is on the floor. "My God," Amelia says, pulling her phone out of her back pocket and dialing 911.

Trzaska pulls out a knife and cuts the rope, bringing Kaycee down into his arms and lays her on the bed. "Kaycee! KAYCEE NO!" he screams. He can barely hear Amelia's voice in the background.

"I need an ambulance," she says into the phone. "My brother's girlfriend tried to kill herself." Tears start to flow as Amelia takes in her brother's sorrow. "Look just send the fucking ambulance!"

Trzaska is shocked back to reality. Kaycee is still standing in front of him, barely holding on to his hand. "I have to let you go," Trzaska whispers. Kaycee smiles and Trzaska lets go of her hand. Kaycee's body begins to become transparent and then disappears in front of him. Trzaska wipes his eyes and leaves the room walking down to the ICU, where he knows he should have been all along.

In a few minutes Trzaska is standing in Amelia's room. He sits down next to her bed, leans his cane against the wall, and sighs as he takes her hand in his. He kisses it gently and speaks to her. "Missed you sis. Sorry I was gone for a while. I…" He paused and sighed again. "The truth is I've been having some trouble dealing with all of this. I knew this day would come but I didn't think it would be so soon." Amelia continues to sleep. She didn't seem to know Trzaska was talking to her at all. "I didn't know how to handle it. So I distanced myself from you. And I'm sorry. You've always been there for me when I needed you. And now it's my turn. Whatever you need. I'm here." Trzaska kisses Amelia's hand again and leans back in his chair. While still holding her hand, Trzaska closes his eyes, and lets sleep take him.

Several hours later Amelia woke up again. With a great amount of effort, she squeezes Trzaska's hand waking him up. He quickly stirs and was as near Amelia as he could be without lying in bed next to her. Amelia struggles to lift her hand to her mouth and motions at the trachea tube.

"Your trachea tube," Trzaska questions.

Amelia blinks once.

"You want it out," Trzaska asks.

Amelia blinks once again, a tear falling down her face. Trzaska stands up and removes the trachea tube. He quickly places an oxygen mask over Amelia's face letting her try to catch her breath. "It, it hurts, so much," Amelia whispers.

"I'll turn your morphine up some more, it'll let you go back to sleep," Trzaska says trying to comfort her.

"Wait, wait," Amelia stammers. She swallows hard, it was obviously difficult. "You remember, after, Mom, and Dad, died I said, I would, always be there, for you?"

"Yeah, I remember, you've never broken your promise," Trzaska replies smiling.

"I, I can't, be there, for you, anymore, Adam," Amelia forced.

"It's, it's, it's time, Adam. Give, me, give, me, a hug," Trzaska leans down and hugs Amelia tightly. He knows he will never get to hug her again. "Thank you, thank you, for everything, Adam," Amelia whispers. "You, you, were, the best, brother, I could, have ever, had. Thank you." Amelia tries to kiss Trzaska on the cheek and whispers to him. "It's time." Trzaska nods and stands up. Tears were running down his face. Amelia tries to smile, "Don't, don't cry for me, little brother. I, I, won't, hurt, any, anymore." Trzaska smiles. He uses the bed to support him as he walks around it to the i.v. pump. "I'll tell, Mom, and, Dad, what you've, become," Amelia says. "I'm, so proud, of you."

Trzaska had always been an atheist, but he didn't bother to argue with Amelia. He didn't tell her she was stupid for believing in an afterlife. In believing she would see their parents again. This time he was fine with whatever gave her peace. Punching in the code one last time, Trzaska turned the drip up to a lethal dose. He had heard of this before but had never seen it done in person. He knew though, knew how it would go. He knew Amelia would slip into a coma that she would never wake up from. Trzaska tried to be strong for Amelia, he knew she was ready and knew it was for the best. She was right. She wouldn't suffer anymore. Trzaska closed the door to the i.v. pump and turned back to look at Amelia, he smiled at her as she looked back at him. He couldn't stop the tears but he nodded his approval to her. Reaching down and grabbing Amelia's hand, Trzaska squeezed it comfortingly in his own. He leaned down and kissed Amelia gently on her forehead. "I love you sis," Trzaska whispers. "I will miss you. Please tell Mom and Dad I love them." He put the oxygen mask back over her face. Amelia smiled as her breathing became slower and easier. Her eyes were heavy with sleep. She smiled one last time at Trzaska while he ran his fingers through her hair. Amelia's eyes closed and she drifted off to sleep. "Dream sister," Trzaska whispers. "Dream of happier days." Trzaska watched the heart monitor as Amelia's rate continued to slow and then flat lined.

The door opened and a nurse ran in to check on Amelia since an alarm had gone off at the nurse's station. Trzaka turned and shook his head. "She's gone," Trzaska said quietly. "She's finally at peace." Trzaska smiled at the nurse as another tear fell down his face. He leaned down and kissed Amelia on her forehead. "I hope I do see you again," Trzaska says. "Take care until then." The nurse stood in the doorway. Even though she didn't know Trzaska, he was one of theirs, and it was always hardest when one of their own lost someone. Trzaska started shutting machines off since they were no longer needed. He limps along to the other side of the bed shutting the last few machines off. He then grabbed his cane and some papers. Walking over to the nurse he hands them to her, "Here are her wishes," Trzaska states. "No autopsy, please just hold her until I get the funeral arrangements settled."

The nurse nods and puts her hand on Trzaska's shoulder rubbing it. "We'll take good care of her," she says.

"Thank you," Trzaska says quietly. He limps on his cane out of the door and then turns back a few steps away. "Do you know if Dr. Chase has gone home yet," he asks the nurse.

"It's a little after eleven o'clock Dr. Trzaska," the nurse replies. "Dr. Chase left hours ago."

"Thank you," Trzaska replies. He limps out of the room, wipes his eyes, and reaches in his pocket pulling out his phone. He presses three and waits for an answer. "Robert, it's Adam. Could you use a drink? Yeah, the usual place. Be there in ten. I'll get our table." Trzaska hangs up his phone and walks to the elevator. He gets off on the ground floor, goes to the parking lot, and gets on his bike.

Adam orders tequila shots and had a few lined up when Chase got there. Chase notices Trzaska is already five ahead. "I guess I'm a little behind," Chase says taking a seat. "What are we celebrating?" Chase downed his first shot and then his second.

"A pain free life Robert," Trzaska responds. "I would like to propose a toast, to the quick death of all who truly suffer." Trzaska downed another shot and Chase followed right behind.

"Congratulations then dear boy," Chase says.

"So Robert, I am gonna need a ride home. 'Cause there is no way I am going to be able to even walk by the time I'm done tonight," Trzaska says as he downs another shot. "Hey miss, can we get some more tequila shots please," Trzaska asks a waitress as she walks by and begins to stack his empty shot glasses as he waits for her to bring more drinks.

Meanwhile, Chase had caught up. They had each had seven shots already. "Well Adam, at this rate I'm not driving home either, so I think you are gonna beat me tonight," Chase says.

"Don't quit on me Robert," Trzaska orders. "Not tonight dammit." He spun a glass around in his hand, staring at it. "You know Robert, I didn't think I would miss her this much."

"Yeah, who are we talking about," Chase questions.

"My sister man," Trzaska responds. "My beautiful, fun loving, amazing sister."

"I'm sorry mate," Chase says. "I lost my mum when I was young. And my dad, well I lost him to cancer. I saw him a couple months before he died and he never told me. I just got blindsided by that."

The waitress came by and set some more shots down on their table. Chase picked one up and downed it. "Yeah I know what you mean," Trzaska says. "We lost our parents when we were young too. We were orphans Amelia and I, anything we accomplished was all because of what we did. Nothing was handed to us; we had to work for all of it." Trzaska held his glass up in a toast. "Here's to the good times Robert, may they be the only ones we remember and may there be many more ahead of us." Trzaska's and Chase's glasses clinked as they toasted and downed their drinks.

A few hours went by and Chase and Trzaska were hammered. "Let's toast Adam," Chase suggests. "To your wonderful sister, may she be at peace in heaven now."

"Here here," Trzaska says as they toast. "Robert, I, I have to tell you something. She is gone because of me. I helped her leave. It was without a doubt, the right thing to do. But I still miss her."

Chase stops laughing and takes a serious tone. "I know what you mean. More of us have been there than you know. Now that I think about it, I have a solution to our ride home problem." Chase takes out his phone and scrolls through his phonebook landing on the number he was looking for and then dials. "Hey, it's Chase, what are you doing? Oh yeah, that's right down the road. Can we meet you for a drink? Yeah, Adam and me. Ok, we'll be there soon. Bye." Chase hangs up and waves his hand at Stephanie the waitress to pay the bill. He downed another shot as he waited for her. Chase reaches in his pocket and grabs his wallet. "This one's on me mate," he tells Trzaska. "It's been a rough day." The Stephanie arrives and Chase hands her a few hundred dollar bills. "This should cover the drinks, and keep the change Stephanie."

"You two aren't driving are you," Stephanie asks.

"No, we're walking to our ride now. Thanks Stephanie," Chase says and winks.

"Ok, you boys have a good night," she says smiling.

Chase and Trzaska stumble out of the bar and walk down the street. "Where are we going," Trzaska asks.

"To meet someone who is sympathetic to our plight my dear friend," Chase responds.

After a few very long minutes they made it to a retro looking club. "This is the place," Chase says. They stumble inside and walk around to the bar in the back of the place. "There she is," Chase says. Trzaska's vision is too blurred to make out who Chase is referring to. The two men reach their destination where Chase hugs the woman. Trzaska immediately recognizes her voice as the two greet each other.

"Wow, you two are shitfaced aren't you," Thirteen asks laughing at their clumsiness.

"Hammered beyond repair my dear," Chase replies with a smile. "How about a drink Adam?"

"I thought you would never ask Robert," Trzaska responds cheerfully. Chase calls the bartender over and has a couple shots poured.

Thirteen sips on her martini and looks on. "So what's the occasion," Thirteen asks.

"The sweet release of a painless death my dear Remy," Trzaska responds.

"What did you say," Thirteen questions.

"Bottoms up," Chase says as he hands Trzaska the shot. Trzaska raises the glass in a silent toast and downs it.

"What is he talking about," Thirteen asks Chase.

"I don't know," Chase responds. "Think I'm gonna go home though. Gonna call a cab. Do you think you could take Adam home? He has something he'd like to talk about with you."

"Yeah, I was about to head home anyway," Thirteen replies. She finishes her drink and then stands up. "I'm gonna use the ladies room. Then we can go," she tells the men before leaving.

Chase takes out his phone to call a taxi. Trzaska pokes his shoulder, "Hey man, what are you doing? I don't have anything to talk to Remy about," Trzaska says confused.

"Adam, you know that thing you were talking about with your sister," Chase asks.

"Yeah," Trzaska responds.

"Thirteen has been through it with her brother. Talk to her about it," Chase says. "It will be good for both of you." Chase gives the cab company the address and hangs up his phone while Trzaska stares into the crowd watching Thirteen walk back towards them.

"I had no idea," Trzaska says to himself. "She knew what I was going through. Remy knew my sister was in the hospital. Well she didn't know it was my sister but she knew what I was feeling. I can't believe it."

"Ready to go," Thirteen asks.

"Yeah," Chase responds. Thirteen grabs Trzaska's hand and leads him through the crowd slowly, being aware of his cane slowing him down. Chase follows close behind. They soon reach the outside and step out onto the street. "See you tomorrow," Chase says as he gets into the cab already waiting for him.

"I'm parked just over here Adam," Thirteen says as they walk down the sidewalk together. "So how much have you had to drink tonight?"

"I lost count around thirty," Trzaska says. "Robert and I were having a drinking contest. I think I won."

Thirteen laughs, "How 'bout I make you something to eat to soak up that alcohol?"

"Sounds good," Trzaska answers. They reach Thirteen's car and she opens the passenger door for him before going to the driver side and starting the car.

Before long they reach Thirteen's apartment. She helps Trzaska up the stairs and they go inside. "Nice place you have here Remy," Trzaska says.

"It's not much," Remy replies. "But it's home." She drops her keys on a bar in the living room before walking into the kitchen. As she does so she uses a hair band that was on her wrist to put her hair up in a ponytail. Thirteen crosses the kitchen and opens the refrigerator coming back with some eggs and a few tupperware containers in her hand. "How 'bout an omelet? Should hit the spot right?"

"Perfect," Trzaska responds. He limps into the kitchen behind her leaning heavily on his cane to stabilize him. The kitchen was spacious, plenty of room for him to stand in and not be in Thirteen's way. "I really admire you Remy," Trzaska says. "I'm sorry I wouldn't accept your help. If you still want to listen, I want to talk about it."

"I've been making omelets since I was twelve," Thirteen responds while cracking the eggs into a pan. "So I'm all ears."

"My friend, with Krabbe's disease, she was more than my friend." Thirteen looks at Trzaska paying complete attention to him and ignoring the eggs in the pan. "She was my best friend. But she was also, my sister." Trzaska's eyes start welling up with tears. "My twin sister, she, she died tonight, a few hours ago. And I, I'm the reason she's dead." Trzaska collapses into a heap on the floor. He leans back into one of the kitchen walls trying to slow down the spinning in his head.

Thirteen moves quickly and crouches down in front of Trzaska checking on him.

"I put her into a morphine coma Remy, and she never woke up." The tears were flowing at full stream by now. "She was in so much pain, I didn't think, this would be so hard. I miss her so much Remy." Trzaska reaches out to Thirteen who had also started crying a little. "I know, you know how I feel Remy. You tried to be there for me and I pushed you away, but I can't do this on my own."

Thirteen put her hand to Trzaska's lips hushing him. She wiped the tears from his cheeks, leaned in and kissed him gently. Again and again she kissed him. She grabbed his bottom lip between hers and pulled on it slightly. Thirteen began to rise and pulled Trzaska up with her leading him through the kitchen all the while kissing him. She turns the stove off and then wraps both of her arms around Trzaska leading him slowly to her bedroom. Once there, Thirteen turns so as to back Trzaska up to the bed. She gently pushes him onto his and climbs on top of him peeling off her shirt and bra before taking his shirt off as well. Thirteen continued kissing Trzaska as their hands roamed over each other's bodies. Soon they were naked and it was impossible to tell where one began and the other ended. They spent the night wrapped in each other's arms. Hours went by before all their sorrow and anguish had been physically drained from their figures. Thirteen held Trzaska throughout the night never once letting go and he likewise wouldn't be parted from her. Thirteen remembered how she felt when she had helped her brother leave this world, how helpless and guilty she felt. Now that someone truly shared her pain, she was determined not to let him go through it alone. "Sleep well Adam," Thirteen whispered. She was sitting up in bed with Trzaska's head lying in her lap. She stroked his hair comfortingly long after he fell asleep until sleep finally took her as well. For once in what seemed like forever. Remy "Thirteen" Hadley was at peace.

* * *

**A/N: Major changes going on in the House Universe. I never intended for this story to be a trilogy but that's what it has turned into. I have already started on the next part and as soon as I finish I will update this chapter to include the link to the next part which will finally tie into the canon events of Season 8 as well as go through to the end of the series to follow Trzaska's story. Hope you've enjoyed.**


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